


Life Is A Storm

by Geekygirl24



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alpha Steve Rogers, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Captain America Big Bang 2019 | cabigbang, Count of Monte Cristo Fusion, Evil Bucky Barnes, M/M, Omega Tony Stark, capbigbang2019, mentions of mpreg, peter is steve and tony's son, split personality disorder, thoughts of rape/non-con
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 16:42:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 23,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21211769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geekygirl24/pseuds/Geekygirl24
Summary: Unassuming Alpha Steve Rogers is a guileless and honest young man whose peaceful life and plans to bond with the handsome Omega Tony Stark, are abruptly shattered when his best friend, Bucky Barnes, who wants Tony for himself, deceives him.The classic story of an innocent man wrongly, but deliberately imprisoned and his brilliant strategy for revenge against those who betrayed him, set in the Alpha/Beta/Omega universe.Written for the Cap Big Bang 2019





	Life Is A Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PaulAtreDeezNuts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaulAtreDeezNuts/gifts), [Hayluhalo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hayluhalo/gifts).

> I want to thank everyone who was involved in this project from the bottom of my heart. I know there were a few ups and downs but we did it!
> 
> Thank you to my two artists: Haylu Halo (Art found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21190289) & PaulAtreDeezNuts (art found here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21210725) for their contribution to this project. I have gifted this work to them (or will) so that you can find it.
> 
> Thank you to my beta, Michael Bian, who read through all the babble before telling me to get a grip.

How many seconds does it take for a life to end?

How many minutes does it take for the pain to reach the heart?

How many hours does it take for the mind to be poisoned?

How many days does it take for every other thought and feeling to disintegrate into dust?

How many weeks, until everyone else forgets the person you once were?

How many years does it take for a loving heart to be hardened into raw, unadulterated hate?

Hate is a powerful emotion and is often thrown about for trivial matters, but a hate like this consumed all other emotions, overpowered logic and rational thought, poisoned the mind until someone could think of nothing else.

“Hate is too great a burden to bear.” 

This was something Steve could remember his Mother whispering to him, as she cleaned him up after yet another brawl on the streets. Now, as he sat in this cold cell, his clothes nothing but rags and his mutilated back up against the stone well, all he could think about, was the hatred he felt.

Even his Mother’s soothing words weren’t enough.

These four, cold, stone walls have become his home now, with the only light coming in through the narrow, barred window. Home was possibly too kind a word… it was more a dwelling thought up by the deepest creatures of hell. Mildew droplets trickled down from the ceiling, and he could smell his drying blood on the floor. The sounds of other screaming prisoners were his personal lullaby.

Yes. This was hell.

It all started ten years ago. And Steve could remember it all, like it had only been ten minutes ago.

How could he forget after all? How could he forget about the series of event that set him on this destructive path?

They were like scars on his brain.

“I’ll miss you.” Tony had whispered softly against his cheek.

“I’ll miss you too.” Steve had answered, standing up on his tiptoes slightly in order to bury his head in Tony’s neck, “But it’s only for the summer. I’ll be back before you know it, I promise.”

They were wrapped up in each other, standing beside one of the omega’s private jets. Steve had finally managed to land a place at a prestigious art camp. One that would help propel his career, meaning that he was finally going to stop relying on Tony and his wealth.

His fellow Alpha and best friend, Bucky, had worked security for the main financier of the camp. He’d dropped Steve’s name a few times and managed to persuade the man to at least have a look at the shorter man’s work.

Tony sighed, lips sticking out in a delightful pout, “What am I supposed to do for a whole summer? I’ll go mad with boredom!”

Steve rolled his eyes. It was true that he was around 90% of Tony’s impulse control (which was saying a lot when it came to him), but Tony had Pepper and Happy to keep him in line if necessary. Steve couldn’t pass up an opportunity like this.

“I wish I had something to give you, to remember me by.” He mumbled, pulling back to meet Tony’s eyes.

“You think I’m going to forget you over a summer?” Tony gasped dramatically, a single hand flying to his chest, “You wound me!”

Steve leant up and kissed the other man on the tip of the nose, “You know what I mean!” He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, “Hold out your hand.”

Tony silently did as he was told, the characteristic smirk still on his face. However, this soon vanished when Steve placed a familiar looking compass in his palm. “This is- this is- “

“- My Father’s” Steve finished, opening up to reveal a cute photo of the pair of them together, “You can take care of it for me.”

“Steve- “

“- Promise? That you’ll take care of it?”

Tony nodded slowly, “Yeah… I promise.”

Before they could kiss again, a cocky voice behind them piped up.

“Steve, come on!” Bucky called out, strolling over and wrapping an arm around his friend’s shoulders, “Three months isn’t going to kill either of you.”

“Speak for yourself!” Tony shook his head, placing the compass gently in his own pocket, “I’m being left to fend for myself!”

The three of them were close. Steve and Bucky had been best friends since childhood, and nothing came between them… until Tony came along.

Tony was not someone they ever expected to get close to. Heir to the biggest tech company in the States, he practically danced through life, ignoring those in his social class, all those rich Alphas as he drifted over to Steve and Bucky.

Everyone was surprised when Tony and Steve, polar opposites, then fell for one another, with Bucky falling into the third wheel role.

“I don’t see why I can’t come.” Tony huffed.

“Because you have zero interest in art and would be bored for the whole trip.”

“But I would be with you!”

Steve softened at the soppy comment, and it was clear that he was ready to give in… which is probably why Bucky spoke up.

“I’m going to puke.” He rolled his eyes, “Steve needs to focus on his art, and how can he do that when he knows you’re pining in his room?”

“I can be a model?”

This time, it was the pilot who interrupted. “Ready when you are boys.” He beckoned them with a wave of hand, from his position at the top of the steps.

Bucky headed to the plane straight away, giving the other two a chance to say their last farewells. Tony pulled Steve into his arms once more, drawing his face close to affectionately brush their lips together.

“Bye Stevie.” Tony mumbled against his mouth.

“Love you.”

“I love you three thousand.” Tony’s response was always the same It was never a goodbye statement, but more like an unbroken promise between them.

Slowly, they broke away from one another, and Steve followed Bucky into the plane, blowing Tony a kiss goodbye.

At first, the summer seemed like it was going according to plan… until it didn’t. That summer was the beginning of the end.

“Bucky! Bucky!” Steve raced into their shared room, “Bucky!”

“What?!”

Steve finally found his friend standing in front of the mirror, wheezing as his asthma started to make itself known.

“You gotta learn your limitations punk.” Bucky sighed, turning around, only to frown at the look on Steve’s face, “What’s wrong?”

“Bucky, I- “Steve ran his fingers through his hair, “Fuck!”

“Language punk. What’s got you so worked up?”

“He’s a criminal Buck!” Steve answered in a rushed unsteady breath, “That boss of yours, is a criminal!”

“… What?”

“I-I-I overheard him, your boss! He basically confessed to embezzlement! All this talk of charity and crap like that, it’s all a lie. You’ve heard of that terrorist organisation, HYDRA, right? He’s working for them! And he was talking about passing the blame on! What if he focuses on you? What if he makes out like you’re the one helping Hydra?!”

“Sssh, sssh, sssh Stevie.” Bucky reached out and pulled him into a hug, voice calm, “Am I the only one you’ve told?”

“Yeah… you’re my best friend, I had to warn you!”

It was then that Bucky’s phone started to buzz on the counter, vibrating incessantly against the sleek surface. Bucky paled dramatically, one hand reaching out to grab it.

“Wait?” Steve frowned, “You’re really going to answer it now?! Who is it?”

“I’m just- Ummmm.” Bucky stared down at the phone in his hand, before looking back at Steve, expression torn and uncertain. He then answered the call.

“Bucky!”

Bucky ignored him, focusing on the conversation on the other end of the phone. “Yes…” He never once looked away from Steve, “… Yes…. yes, he’s here.”

Steve shook his head in confusion, watching as Bucky ended the call and put the phone back down, “Bucky, W-what’s going on? Who was that?”

Bucky just stared at him, and Steve felt a shudder going down his spine. In his friend’s eyes, there was a haunting mix of betrayal, determination and the slightest hint of remorse. “I’m sorry Stevie.”

Before Steve could ask why, and what he meant, a swarm of men dressed in black combat gear suddenly came crashing into the room, startling Steve and making him yelp in surprise.

“Bucky, what’s- “

“Steven Rogers, you are under arrest.”

“What?!” Steve flinched away from the out-stretched arm of the nearest agent, shuffling back, “For what? What have I done?!”

By his side, Bucky watched silently, stare blank and emotionless.

“Bucky!”

“I’m sorry Stevie.” Bucky sighed, as the officer grabbed Steve, wrenching his arms around his back and handcuffing him, without even reading him out his rights.

“I’m innocent! I haven’t done anything!” Steve screamed, panicked and scared, starting to hyperventilate, “Bucky, please! Please!”

When Bucky still showed no sign of moving, or even being outraged at the situation, Steve fell limp in disbelief. “Why?” he questioned softly, “How could you do this Buck? How could you let this happen?”

“Complicated? Complicated?!” Steve’s voice rose as the officers started to drag him away, “How complicated can it fucking be?!”

The only answer he got, was Bucky turning his back on him, refusing to answer and refusing to watch as Steve was pulled away. 

Steve knew that he’d been framed for something, clearly, but he didn’t know who and he certainly didn’t know why.

And what was Bucky doing?!

The following weeks passed by in a catastrophic blur, one doomed calamity after the next.

There was one shining beam of light in the darkness though, and that was Tony. The omega had flown over as soon as he heard about Steve’s arrest and subsequent court date, just to be there. 

What Steve didn’t know, was that this would be the last time he would ever see his omega…. Maybe if he had known, he would have cherished it more. Maybe he would have stopped fighting it all and just paused to think. Paused to commit to memory, all the tiny beautiful details of Tony’s face.

He should have stopped fighting and told Tony just how much he loved him, over and over again.

“I’m innocent!” Steve begged through the prison glass, the prisoner jumpsuit practically drowning him.

“I know, I know, and I’ve got the best lawyers on the case.” Tony seemed different somehow… subdued, “I love you, you know that right?”

Steve couldn’t bring himself to meet the omega’s eyes.

“Stevie.” Tony placed a trembling hand on the glass, “Look at me… please.”

Slowly, Steve did as he was told, opening his mouth to speak… only for the words to get caught in his throat. What could he say, that hadn’t already been said?

“Everything’s going to be okay Stevie.” Tony tried to sound strong, “Bucky’s helping with the case and- “

“- Bucky?!”

“Well, yes?” Tony frowned in confusion, “He’s been staying with me and he- “

“- No!”

The frown on Tony’s face deepened, “What’s wrong?”

“Tony, you can’t trust him! You can’t trust Bucky! Stay away from him!”

“Stevie, what are you talking about?” Tony asked, clearly not understanding, “You’re not making sense, he’s your best friend and he’s trying to help, why shouldn’t I trust him?”

“Tony, you can’t!” Steve stated firmly, pressing closer to the glass, “He’s not trying to help me! He’s lying to you!”

“But… I don’t understand…” Tony shook his head, at a loss, “Why would Bucky lie? He- I- “

“Times up!”

“Tony, listen to me! Bucky did his, and I don’t know why, but you have to believe me!”

“Steve, I need to tell you something, I’m- “

“Please believe me!” Steve interrupted, feeling pressure behind his eyes, “It’s the truth, don’t listen him!”

“Let’s go.” A guard practically lifted Steve out of the chair, pulling him back towards the prison

“DON’T TRUST HIM! DON’T TRUST HIM TONY!”

“Steve, I love you!” Tony was practically pressed up against the glass, one hand on it and the other on his stomach, watching in horror as his Alpha was dragged away, “I love you, and everything is going to be alright! Everything’s going to be alright! I love you three thousand!”

It didn’t happen often, but Tony was wrong.

It got so much worse.

Thinking back, it was all a blur. It got worse and now Steve was here… in captivity.

In hell.

Steve could only remember bits and pieces. One minute he was in a civilised, general population prison and the next, he saw blood.

Blood everywhere.

It spread under his twitching body, staining his skin and soaking his uniform.

He remembered the feeling as sharp metal against his back, head lolling forwards as the pain was reignited again and again and again, with every strike. 

It was no surprise when everything went black., at least for a moment.

During that time, he must have been dragged to this stone prison, a building he now only referred to as the pits of hell itself. They threw him into this cell, and when he woke up, Steve thought this was the end.

The rest of his life confined to this tiny room.

Except that this imprisonment came with an added bonus.

Torture.

He remembers being strung up, harsh whispers turning to commands, eventually drowned out by ear-splitting screams.

His own screams.

From there, Steve could only bear to recall it in flashes. Hot, traumatizing flashes.

Merciless torture.

Suffering

Interrogation about things he had no clues about, things he had never heard of before, seeking answers and demanding explanations.

He remembered wanting to die as he felt searing pain across his back, the unforgiving whip slicing his flash, far too close to his spine. His body was repeatedly ripped to unidentifiable shreds, only to be haphazardly sewn back together with sloppy sutures, un-anesthetized.

For the first time, Steve begged for death.

He couldn’t do this all day. He couldn’t do this for the rest of his life. He prayed for his life to come to an abrupt end, knowing that he would welcome it with open arms.

On the days when he was given some reprieve, he heard the screams of others, hearing bones snap and horrific gurgles of death.

Sometimes, he felt like he could still hear them, long after their bodies were dragged out.

He felt jealous of them…. They were free… they were at peace. Steve knew he would give anything to be free like that.

But they refused to let him go. No matter what he said, they refused to kill him, which was the worst punishment of all. Even now, years after the torture sessions had all but faded away into distant memory, they still refused to kill him.

And so, Steve lived out his life, day by day, held hostage behind the gates of hell.

The days all blended together, seconds into minutes into hours. These days then turned to weeks, and then to months, and then to years. Years left alone with his incessant thoughts.

With but time to kill, what else could he really do but think. Dwell upon the misery of his life.

No matter what he thinks about, it all comes back to the same subject in the end. Once the feelings of hate and vengeance have made his blood boil one day more, after he adds another name onto the list of hated people, those he wants to ruin, he always comes back to that same subject.

Tony.

Steve rewound the image of his lost love again and again and again, holding tightly to it. He never wanted to forget the true smile that Tony couldn’t contain when he was truly happy, his warm brown eyes, his delicate hands and the way they moved. He never wanted to forget the comforting sound of Tony’s laugh. 

He never wanted to forget that love.

The last thing Steve ever heard Tony say, was that he loved him. Five words that made up their phrase, something that Steve had taken for granted, were now all that he wanted to hear again. 

Without those hearing those words again, he had nothing left. Nothing at all. Not that he ever had much to start off with, but now he can’t even say he has his dignity, pride or love. He was alone, and the only thing to comfort him, was the hatred in his heart. The overwhelming desire to seek penance for all the wrong done to him.

To make those who betrayed him, suffer. Suffer beyond their wildest imagination.

Starting with Bucky.

The Alpha he’d considered to be a brother to him, had betrayed him. Stabbed in the back and left for dead.

And Steve will never forget that… he will never forgive that.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Steve sat slumped against the wall, desperately carving out yet another image of Tony, trying to keep the memory of the omega fresh in his mind. He did this nearly every day, multiple portraits scattered all over the walls. He went over the lines of Tony’s smile again and again, listening to the sound of water droplets falling from the damp ceiling.

And then he heard the familiar noise.

Over the last ten years, he had grown accustomed to every sound, every peep that came out of this place, identifying every single one of them by name.

The scraping sound was new.

Suddenly, from the centre of his cell, a head emerged from the soil, followed by a hand and several curses. Once it was fully above the ground, the head to look curiously at the surroundings.

“Perfect.” The old man groaned, “Zis is just perfect.”

“What the- “Steve frowned, “- who are you?”

“I cannot believe zis!” The man sighed, pulling himself out of the hole and into Steve’s cell, “I was so sure I had my calculations correct!”

Steve just stared at him in absolute shock, the whole experience boggling his mind.

“Dr. Abraham Erskine, at your service.” The man introduced himself, “I believe I was in the cell next to yours. I vas attempting to dig out and under ze outer wall, and I honestly believed I vas going in the right direction.”

“O-Okay? How long have you been here?”

“Two years.” Erskine sighed, “I have… a certain invention that many people want, and I refuse to give it to zem.”

“Only two years?”

Erskine frowned, glancing over at him, “How long have you been here my boy?”

Casting his heavy gaze to the stone wall, focusing on one of his drawings, “Ten years…. Ten years yesterday if my guess is right.” He gazed around the room, “Ninety-five thousand, five hundred and nine stones in my walls… I’ve known that for five years.” It was then that he remembered that Erskine had introduced himself, but he himself hadn’t.

His Mother would be ashamed of him.

“My name is Steve. Steve Rogers.”

“A pleasure to meet you… I’m sure it would have been better to meet in a more civilised place, but no matter.” Erskine frowned, “Steve Rogers… the Alpha who was bonded to Tony Stark?”

Steve felt like his blood had run cold, “What?”

“Steven Rogers… ten years ago, you were convicted for treason against the United States of America, and briefly incarcerated in the local prison. And then it was announced that you were found dead… suicide.”

Steve’s frowned deepened, completely bewildered, “How do you know all that?”

“Because I know HYDRA, more specifically, I know the leader, Johann Schmidt who is very good friends with Alexander Pierce. I believe you know him?”

Oh yes. Pierce was one of the names on his list, as Bucky’s boss.

“HYDRA has a unique way of making those who disagree with him, disappear. You for discovering whatever plan they had, and me for not giving them the key to building their own super soldier.”

“That’s the most I’ve learnt in ten years…” Steve whispered, “… I knew nothing when I got here, and all I’m sure of now, is that I hate everything and everyone who put me here.”

“No use sitting here and dwelling on zat. Better to get up and do something about it.”

“Do what?” Steve inquired bitterly, expression hardened and tired, “I don’t know if you’ve noticed or nor… but we’re not in any position to do anything!”

“Yes, ve are.”

Steve just stared at Erskine blankly.

“Ve can escape.”

Burying his head into his hands, Steve felt like his mind had finally snapped. His body shook heavily and uncontrollably, his pained laughter indistinguishable from the sounds of tearful crying. He couldn’t tell if he was crying at the ridiculousness of the idea, or because he knew that there was no chance in hell he was ever getting out of here.

“I am serious!” Erskine protested, “It is not difficult and if ve work together, ve can get out of here in about a year!”

“A year!” Steve sneered, “You’ve been trying for two years and managed to end up in the cell next door!”

“Oh, do you have somezing better to do? More drawing perhaps?”

“Well, I- “

“- I didn’t zink so.” Erskine leaned forwards, “If ve get out of here, zen you can go after those who put you in here, in the first place!”

There is nothing more that Steve wants, then to see Tony again… second to that, he wants full and complete revenge on Bucky and the company he sold his soul to.

“What do you say Steven? Ready to get out of here?” 

Yes, Steve knew he was. His life had no value by sitting in dirt all day, either by counting stones or carving images of Tony onto the walls.

What does he hope to lose at this point?

The next step is either death or escape… and both options are good either way.

“… Okay.”

“Fantastic! Ve shall start in ze morning!”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

Days go by, as they always did, but not nearly as slowly with the Doctor around, and over time, Steve started to respect the old man. He valued the man and appreciated the always present company.

The slot to their cells opened twice a day, in the morning and in the evening. They worked throughout the day, digging and hiding the dirt in the toilet or under a loose stone slab. As they dug further and further into the ground, the pair grew closer, leaning more about each other.

A standard beta, Erskine explained how he was a prodigy child, struggling to find somewhere respectful to work until he met Johann Schmidt.

To pass the time as they dug, they had deep philosophical debates, debating logic, morality and ethics, and every time, Steve learnt something new, building up a knowledge base of his own, developing his own opinions on matters and conceptions of life.

Erskine forced him to search deep within himself and think about things that Steve was too afraid to think about before. He came to not only understand his situation, the world and himself better.

“What vill you do if ve pull this off tonight?” Erskine asked one night, sitting with his back against the wall, counting down the minutes until it was time for the great escape, “If we escape?”

“Find Tony.” Steve replied instantly, not wasting a single moment’s breath.

“And zen what?” 

“Then I will have my revenge on everyone who sent me here.”

“How?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care.” Steve huffed, wringing filthy hands together against his pulled-up knees. “All I know, is that I’ve spent eleven years in captivity, rotting away, being tortured and abused with every scrap of dignity stripped from my body. I never thought I could hate like this… I don’t know what I’ll do or how I’ll do it. I just know that I will do it, I will hunt them down one by one.”

“… You are a good man Steven. I want you to stay a good man.” When Steve remained silent, Erskine sighed, “I vill see you tonight Steven. Be ready.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

The time for them to meet passed by.

Steve quickly grew concerned, climbing into the passageway that linked their two cells and crawling into Erskine’s cell. There were no foreign voices, so it didn’t seem like Erskine was going through a torture session.

Slowly, he lifted the concrete slab and peeked into the room.

Erskine was lying still on the cot.

“Doctor!” Steve hissed, trying to get his attention, only to receive no answer, “Doctor Erskine!”

Nothing.

“Oh god no!” Steve rushed over, checking for a pulse only to have Erskine weakly bat his hands away.

“I-I-It’s t-t-too…” 

“Sssh, don’t talk, don’t talk!”

“I-I-I- “Erskine coughed, “- I d-don’t have much time.” He weakly patted at his chest, over his heart, “Medical c-c-coverage isn’t exactly the best i-i-in here.” He sucked in a deep, shuddering breath, “U-Underneath t-t-that book, there’s s-s-some loose rocks.”

Steve glanced over that direction, spotting the book. Moving it aside, he lifted the loose stone up and pulled out a scroll and a small vial full of yellow-ish liquid, a syringe taped to it.

“M-my life’s w-w-work.” Erskine whispered, weak eyes focused on the vial, “T-this will bring out y-y-your f-full potential!”

“Full potential? What are you talking about?!”

Erskine smirked, “Y-y-you’ll see.”

“A-and the scroll?”

“My own p-p-personal fortune… you h-h-have all the d-details there. It’s just off the I-Italian c-c-coast… at M-Monto Cristo! U-use it… I beg you.”

Steve felt tears running down his filthy cheeks, “Please…” he begged, “… I can’t do this without you! I’m not strong enough!”

“Y-you don’t need to be strong; y-you just n-n-need to be s-s-smart! U-use the money for g-g-good!”

“I-I don’t think I can promise that!” Steve sighed, revenge still at the forefront of his mind, “You know what I’ll use it for!”

“R-r-repay no one e-evil for e-e-evil….” Erskine coughed, “… V-v-vengeance is M-mine, I will r-r-repay,’ says the L-l-lord.”

“Oh Doctor… I-I don’t think I believe in God anymore.”

“D-doesn’t matter. H-h-he believes in y-y-you.”

Erskine reached out to tap at Steve’s chest, before falling limp with one last shuddering breath. 

Steve would have loved to be given chance to mourn the man he had grown so close to, were it not for the knocking on the door.

“Plates out.”

Desperately, Steve moved over to the corner, out of sight of the hatch as it opened.

“Come on!” the guard kicked the door, and when he still received no answer, he bent down and peeked through the hole, clearly spotting the body on the ground. The hatch was closed, and the man walked away.

Knowing that someone would be coming back soon to check the body, Steve grabbed the vial and scroll, shoving them in his pocket, before disappearing down the connecting tunnel, just as the door opened again.

“First time in two years he hasn’t said thank you.” Muttered the cook/guard, “

He heard someone walk over to the body, “Dead.”

“How.”

“Fell off his bed or summit… heart attack, maybe?”

“Whatever, let’s just get him bagged up.”

Once the door closed again, Steve knew exactly what he had to do. Erskine had wasted away to practically nothing, same as Steve, they both looked like wild man with the shaggy beards and longish hair.

This was his opportunity.

He only had a few moments before they came back. He couldn’t pull Erskine all the way into his own cell, but the tunnel underneath counted as a burial ground, right?

Once it was done and Steve had taken Erskine’s place in the bag (trying not to wheeze too loudly), the door opened again.

“I want this cell searched afterwards.” The Prison Warden sneered, “I know he had some of that serum hidden away somewhere.”

“On it, boss.”

Steve held his breath as the two men lifted him into the air and started carrying him up the stairs to the cliff edge.

It was only a matter of time before his escape tunnel and empty cell was discovered.

“Holy Lord, we bequeath to you, these remains of your humble servant…. Whatever his name was.”

Steve felt chains wrap around him and realised with a sinking feeling (ironic in this case), that they were planning to throw him over the side of the cliff.

“Alright, on three.”

They lifted him up and starting swinging, as Steve’s hand clutched at the needle and vial, clumsily drawing the serum into the vial, despite the sickening motion.

“SIR! STOP! DON’T- “

He had been found out, but it was too late.

Stabbing the full syringe into his leg, Steve screamed in pain, feeling like his entire body was on fire, muscles expanding, limbs extending. He hit the water not long after, the weighty chains helping it sink down to the bottom of the sea in seconds.

He vaguely remembered snapping the chains and ripping the sack open… but from there, it was all a blur.

…………………………………………………………………

The next thing he remembered, he was crawling on his hands and knees through hot sand, the sea lapping at his ankles as he collapsed onto his front.

It was strange.

Even the slightest bit of physical exercise used to make him wheeze and feel like he was dying, and yet, not five minutes after collapsing, he felt like he could run another mile or two. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet and glanced up at the sky, wobbling slightly at the unfamiliar feeling of being this tall.

“Thank you.” He whispered, before setting off at a run.

He ran as fast as his legs would carry him, bare feet hitting hard against the warm sand, breathing still perfectly controlled and measured. In another time, he would have preferred a bit more time to mourn his fallen friend, to commemorate his memory, but he used his grief as fuel instead.

He was slightly inhibited by the wounds on his back that were starting to itch, and the fact that he hadn’t eaten properly for eleven years, but all the same, he was fuelled.

Fuelled by unforgettable hurt, by everything that he’d unfairly lost in this dejected life. Fuelled by his undying desire for retribution and his thirst for vengeance.

He swore, on his life, that he would finish this. On his life, Steve vowed that he would stop at absolutely nothing to bring everyone who wronged him, to justice.

He will end this.

He will have his revenge.

………………………………………………………………..

He found the cottage after around twelve kilometres of running. The muscles of his legs could hardly hold him up. Despite going through a magnificent transformation, he had still gone through eleven years of poor nutrition and physical hardship.

He took a moment to lean against the solid wood of the small house. His mouth was incredibly dry, desperately parched and in persistent demand of water, a slight metallic taste coating his tongue, almost like blood. He stumbled into the home and collapsed.

A few hours later, he felt a hand touch his wrist, most likely checking for a pulse.

“Hey!” Someone shock him, “Can you hear me?”

Steve couldn’t seem to get his heavy, tired eyelids to open, so that he could tell this stranger that he was alright.

“Come on, you need to wake up man or- “

Finally, Steve managed to push himself to wake up, finding that he was lying in a clean bed. The man had moved him, judging by the fact that he was still clothed in the same tattered rags (that were barely covering him after his transformation) dirt underneath his fingernails.

“Hey…” A beta, African American male was leaning over him, a kind smile on his face, “… You’re awake, finally!” He took a seat next to the bed, “I don’t really need to know who you are I guess, bot with those rags and the fact that the most heavily guarded prison is less than 5 miles away.

Steve groaned, body seeming to creak as he sat up slightly, “I’m… Steve. Steve Rogers.”

“Sam, I- Fucking hell.” The man breathed out, eyes widening in realisation, “Fuck… like… as in… Steve Rogers, the Alpha bonded to the Stark kid? I thought you were…. Smaller… and dead?”

“…. I feel dead.”

“B-But everyone thinks you’re dead, and you were just… imprisoned?”

When Steve nodded, Sam groaned, “I-I think I need some air.”

As Sam left, Steve looked around the room again, eyes taking in the simplistic home, until his eyes landed on a full-length mirror.

He gasped in shock.

Startled by his own reflection, Steve scrambled off the bed, closer to the mirror. He hadn’t seen himself in so long, aside from fleeting glances in dirty puddles… and he looked like shit.

His grimy face was etched in filth, with sunken cheeks, hallowed from undernourishment. Long blonde hair (now browner, from the dirt) was matted, hanging down his back, combined with a similarly matted beard.

He didn’t recognise himself.

The eighteen-year-old boy he once remembered himself as, was now nearly thirty years old… thirty years old with dead eyes and pale skin.

He looked as dead as he felt.

It was a bit overwhelming to be honest, like someone had slapped him back to reality. Time had gone on without him whilst he was imprisoned. The world kept turning, kept revolving year after year.

“We’ll get you all cleaned up.”

Steve jumped, not even realising that Sam had come back inside… although he was unable to tear his eyes away from his reflection, even when Sam placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

“You’re going to be ok.” Sam sighed, “I’ll get you back on your feet and then we’ll see where to go from there.”

Steve nodded slowly, finally tearing his eyes away from the reflection and towards the floor. “Sam… can I ask you something?”

“Ask away.”

“You know who I am…” Steve started timidly, not knowing how to properly word a simple question, “… you know about Tony. D-do you know what h-h-happened to him?”

Sam winced, but only briefly, an uneasiness in his eyes. “I-I… don’t know for sure. He kinda disappeared from the public eye after you were labelled as dead.”

“Oh… maybe you can ask around?”

“Y-Yeah. Of course.”

………………………………………………………………………

“Got something for you!” Sam declared, striding into the safe house, stopping at the sight of Steve doing push-ups in the middle of the room. After just a week of recovery, and series after series of baths, scrubs and grooming (he debated about getting rid of the beard, before deciding that he quite liked it) to get all the years of shit off his body, Steve looked like… the perfect Alpha.

“Oh?”

“I’ve got us some transport to find this… treasure of yours.”

Silence.

“We’ll have to go into New York?”

Further silence.

“You can go and see Tony? Walk up to the doors and- “Sam cut himself off, spotting a piece of paper on the table.

A list.

“Alexander Pierce, Brock Rumlow, Jack Collins, Senator Stern, Jasper Sitwell… and James Buchanan Barnes.” Sam read out, “Are these- “

“- all those responsible for my imprisonment, yes.” Steve answered, stopping his workout and getting to his feet, “Leaders of HYDRA and ‘loyal’ followers who all conspired to get me out of the way. People who tried me, people who dragged me to my doom, and the one who betrayed me.”

“So, what’s the plan? Find this treasure, take on a whole new identity and… kill them all?”

“Pretty much.”

“So…. When do we get start?”

“We already have.”

……………………………………………………………….

“And in recent news, is a budding courtship between Lord Barnes and Anthony Stark on the horizon?”

Sam shouldn’t have been surprised when the pencil in Steve’s fingers snapped in half, the Alpha’s face going pain.

Steve felt like he’d been stabbed through the heart, blood boiling inside of him, over-powering feelings of hate and loathing rising.

His Tony… and Bucky.

HIS Tony… and Bucky, the man who betrayed him.

“Steve… please say something… anything.”

There was no report of a marriage… maybe it was all one-sided, maybe this was Barnes’s final revenge on him. Steve lifted his head, eyes raging, teeth gritted, body stiff as a board.

“He’s dead.

“What?!”

“Bucky. Is. Dead.”

Steve had thought long and hard about what he would do to Bucky when faced with him again. Punish him… Torture him… throw him in the same prison he suffered in for years.

Could he ever forgive him?

No.

No, he couldn’t. Bucky had to die. All the noble thoughts of forgiveness and ethics and mercy, everything that Erskine lectured him about, didn’t matter anymore. 

Bucky had to die.

“You’re going to kill him?” Sam asked, “This isn’t about revenge, Steve!”

“Oh… but it is to me. He took everything from me, everything I ever loved.” Steve glanced over at the screen, where a picture of his omega was being broadcasted, before glancing away as quickly as possible, “It’s all about revenge and suffering. I want Bucky to suffer as I suffered, to see his world ripped away from him.”

Sam winced, thankful when he realised that it was time for them to go.

“Come on… let’s find this treasure of yours.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

The plane journey went without a hitch.

The next stage of their journey involved taking a sailboat out to the island of Monte Cristo. When they landed, they spent the next few days searching all over island, following the clues on the scroll.

As they searched, Steve couldn’t help but marvel at how his new body was handling the long walks, the perilous rock faces and the heat.

In his old body, he’d probably be dead by now.

Eventually, the clues led to a cave a little above the sea level. Inside the cave, there was a small pool that seemed to glow bright blue, the setting sun creating strange patterns on the wall and ceiling as it reflected off the surface of the water.

Throwing off his boots, he dived into the water, swimming deeper and deeper (not feeling the need to suck in a desperate breath at all), spotting large boxes on the ground. Removing the lid, his eyes widened at the sight of the gold coins.

Thousands and thousands of gold coins.

Dr. Erskine was right.

…………………………………………………………

“You are so rich now.” Sam loaded the last box onto the sail-boat, “Like, I don’t know what the conversion rate for gold is, but you might be as rich as T- “ He cut himself off quickly, “Anyway, I don’t think we can fit any more on this boat, and there’s at least another eight boatloads down there.”

Steve was silent by the campfire, staring off into the distance.

“I know it might not mean much right now… but this will put you on the right path, I know it.”

Silence.

“Steve… money can’t buy revenge.”

“Money can buy anything.” Steve shrugged, “That’s what Tony always used to say.” He pushed himself to his feet, pulling his hit list out of his pocket, “We’ll study them. Learn their weaknesses… and then I will bring them to their knees.”

“And… you intend to do this all as Steve Rogers?”

“I was thinking of something a little more… noble.” Steve threw the map into the fire, watching as it slowly started to smoulder.

…………………………………………………………………………………

From there it was simple.

A large, extravagant home was bought, and invitations sent out to everyone who was anyone.

The Count of Monte Cristo cordially invites you to Chateau Monte Cristo.

The invitations were one the finest paper, silk woven into the fabric and the envelope stamped with an emblem that none had seen before.

It was enough to catch their attention.

……………………………………………………………………………….

They arrived by the dozens, the richest of the rich, the top players in everything organisation, none of them seeming to care that nobody even knew who this mysterious Count was. Nobody had ever heard of him before.

It was a joke.

Tony stood amongst the swarm of masked faces, wearing his own, red and gold expensive mask, resisting the urge to call the babysitter and make sure that Peter was okay. He didn’t really need this mask…. Not when he wore a mask every day in self-preservation.

Nobody else knew of his pain, the pain that he’d lived with for over ten years now, ever since the horrid, unforgettable day that his life ended.

The day he knew nothing would ever be the same again.

The day he was told Steve had died.

*******Flashback*******

Tony hummed, tapping against his stomach, already looking for the perfect baby clothes. Something in bold red… or in blue in case he looked like Steve. Something to match his eyes.

“Master Tony.”

He turned to Jarvis, who looked rather unhappy (a change from his usual stiff upper lip).

“James Barnes is here to speak to you.” He moved to one side as Steve’s best friend stormed in, taking a seat opposite him. Once Jarvis had left the room, Bucky sighed wearily.

“I- I don’t know how to say this.” He whispered.

“Well make it quick.” Tony had been wary around the Alpha, ever since of Steve’s warning. His Alpha always believed the best in everybody, and it would take a lot for him to accuse someone of anything, “I’m going to see Stevie today. My lawyers have assured me he’ll be let out soon.”

“No… he won’t.” Bucky ran his fingers through his hair, “He’s… Tony, Steve’s dead.”

And at that moment, Tony understood why people said it felt like their heart stopped when hearing bad news…. Because his heart felt like it stopped, and his breath caught in his throat.

“No.” He whispered firmly, not believing Bucky at all, “No, because I just saw him two days ago, and I told those guards to give him his medication on time and- “

“- Tony, I’m sorry.”

“No!” Tony shook his head violently, leaping to his feet and back away, panic setting it, “No, no, no, no, no!”

“Tony, he- “

“Don’t!” Tony screamed, expression broken as hot tears streamed down his cheeks, “Don’t you dare say it Barnes! Don’t!”

“I know what you must be feeling, but- “

“NO, YOU DON’T! He was your friend, but he was MY LOVE!” Tony sucked in a quivering breath, “He was everything to me and- “He couldn’t finish. If he said the words out loud, they would become real.

He would be alone…. Almost.

Unable to hold himself up, Tony collapsed to his knees, pushing Bucky away when the Alpha tried to comfort him.

The bond still felt active.

His body did not want another Alpha so close to him in such a familial way.

Not even when he received Steve’s ashes, did he accept the fact that his Alpha was dead. He had the ashes transferred into a little vial that he kept on a chain around his neck, keeping Steve’s pocket watch close to his heart at all times.

Peter would know who his Father was.

******End Flashback*******

Over the years, Bucky had attempted to get closer to Tony, but the omega had never fully trusted him again.

They were merely acquaintances now, kept together by the shared grief of losing someone close to them. In fact, it was only because of Bucky, that Tony was even here on movie night. 

He watched the throng of people flitting and floating around him.

However, when the fireworks started up, he was startled out of his thoughts, eyes focusing on the extravagant display. On the bridge that overlooked the gardens, a beta, African American male suddenly appeared, dressed in a form-fitting suit.

“Ladies and Gentlemen.” He announced, “It is my great honour that I present to you, His Grace, the Count of Monte Cristo!”

Floating over the top of the mansion, was a giant hot air balloon, a white star in the centre of it. Ropes were thrown over the side and two figures shimmied down them, flipping and twirling until they reached the ground, where they helped the balloon land, tying it off.

Once it was opened, the crowd gasped in awe.

The man was a clear Alpha, with blonde hair and neatly trimmed moustache and beard, the rest of the face hidden behind a blue mask. He was wearing a navy-blue suit that looked like it cost more than this entire party. Over the top of that, was a black, knee length coat that billowed out dramatically behind him.

Tony felt oddly drawn to this stranger, prompting him to reach into his pocket and clutch at the watch. The man reminded him of something… a warm feeling, or a happier time in his life, and that was dangerous.

“Greetings.” The man barely spoke, before he was moving away from the bridge and heading into the crowd.

……………………………………………….

“My dear Count. Allow me to introduce you to my husband. Senator Alexander Pierce.”

Steve only just resisted the urge to crush the glass in his hands, as Pierce barely glanced over at him, muttering something about “being glad to be there.”

“The honour is all mine.” Steve forced out, “Please, enjoy yourselves.”

He knew they would be talking about him as soon as he left, not liking the fact that there was a new, unknown player in the game.

However, he wasn’t worried about that…. Not when he could smell his omega.

……………………………………………………………………………………

“Stark, I swear you get funnier every year!”

Tony forced the smile onto his face. He wanted to get of here so badly…. Nobody would think it out of character if he just left.

A rude, arrogant omega who had a child out of wedlock.

Yes, it was best if he left.

He didn’t hear about the Count enquiring after him.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

The following morning, he heard Jarvis open the door and welcome someone inside.

“Barnes for you Sir.”

Gently whispering for Peter to continue eating his breakfast, Tony made his way to the top of the staircase, peering over the side, tensing up as Bucky stared up at him

“You’re up early.” Bucky’s smile was clearly forced, “Late night?”

“… Peter had a nightmare.”

Bucky frowned, as he always did when Peter was brought up. This was another reason Tony wasn’t fully ready to trust the Alpha. Surely the son of his deceased best friend was someone he should be trying to get to know a little better.

“I hear you were caught by yet another Alpha.” Tony smirked, “Can’t you go after unbonded omegas?”

“I keep trying to… and yet I’m rejected.”

When Tony turned away, focusing on something unseen on the wall, Bucky sighed. “I’ll see myself out. People are starting to talk though Tony. I’m the only hope you’ve got for happiness.”

…………………………………………………………………………………..

“Barnes’s finances…” Natalia dropped the file on Steve’s desk, “… he’s losing a lot of money at the casinos at the moment, and they’re not even cheating him.”

“And what about his other… business ventures?”

“He’s taken out several loans with the same bank in order to purchase some very nice cars. It’s not a HYDRA one either.”

“Hmmm… make sure we own that bank by tomorrow.” Steve watched from the spy footage, as Bucky snarled in anger and stormed away from a table, “And tell the other companies to stay away from him… I want him to go crawling back to HYDRA.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“You don’t understand!” Bucky snarled, “This will work, and when it does, I will make the payment!”

“The bank can no longer offer any more extensions.” The bank manager seemed almost amused, “We understand that a gap has been left in the weapons industry after Stark left, but it really is something best left to a billionaire…. I guess those rumours about you and Stark are nothing but rumours.”

…………………………………………………………….

“Soldier.” Pierce waved Bucky closer, “To what do I owe the pleasure? We feel hurt… you’ve been avoiding us for quite some time now, and after everything we did for you.”

“It’s not our fault you couldn’t keep it Barnes.” Rumlow smirked from his right-hand position, “No money and no omega.”

Bucky ignored him, keeping his eyes focused on Pierce. “I need help.”

“Of course, you do my dear boy, of course you do.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“Steve?” Sam called out into the large, practically empty home, “Steve?”

He headed into the large, extravagant bedroom that Steve had reluctantly been pressured into, frowning at the sight of the empty bed. However, as he headed further into the room, he spotted Steve lying on the floor, reading a book.

“Hey Sam.”

“Did you… fall off the bed?”

Steve smirked, rolling over slightly, exposing the white scars of past whippings on his back (something the serum had never entirely managed to heal). “After over a decade sleeping on a stone slab, beds are just… too much. What’s wrong?”

“I-I wasn’t fully aware of it before… it’s always been kept hush hush from the media but- “Sam took a deep breath, “- Tony has a son.”

Steve didn’t react for a moment, before his eyes widened and he threw the soft cover to one side and shot to his feet.

“Tell me everything.”

………………………………………………………………………

Barnes poured over the paperwork, eyes widening in dismay at what he read. This couldn’t be happening.

Why was everything suddenly going wrong?

“Mister Barnes…” There was a cautious voice from the doorway, “… Why are you working in Dad’s study?”

Bucky’s teeth gritted at the sound of the child’s voice. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?” He growled, trying not to lash out at the little omega. 

After all, if Tony turned out to be a waste of time, there was always the chance of an arranged marriage.

“I really don’t think you should be in Dad’s study.” Peter ignored the question, “He doesn’t like you being up here. He says that you waste money and- “

“- Don’t you have something better to be doing!” Bucky slammed his hand on the desk, almost shattering it as Peter yelped and jumped back in alarm.

“BUCKY!” Tony was in the room in seconds, glaring at the Alpha, before gently pulling his son closer. “Come on underoos, you should be in bed. You’ve got that school trip tomorrow, remember?”

Peter raced out of the door, leaving the Alpha and Omega alone.

“Do you really have to shout at him like that?” Tony asked wearily, “He’s only a- “

“- He’s nearly thirteen.” Bucky snapped, pushing himself to his feet, knowing that he wouldn’t be allowed to stay much longer, “How long are you going to keep coddling him for?”

There was a moment of tense silence, before Tony straightened up and glared at the Alpha. “He’s my son… not yours Barnes. Just remember that, and never tell me how to parent my own child.”

Bucky resisted the urge to curse and Tony flounced out of the room.

Dammit.

Peter was looking more and more likely.

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

“… and here we have our Roman exhibit.”

Peter tried to listen to every word that the tour-guide was saying, but Dad always said he had a poor attention span. Maybe if they were in an actual museum, it wouldn’t be as bad, but they were out in the open, and there were way too many things that were more interesting than this tour.

Like that woman standing near the maze. 

She had gorgeous red hair, wearing a black mask. Knowing that Peter had spotted her, she held up a finger to her lips, silently telling him not to say anything, before she walked off into the maze.

Peter couldn’t help but follow, slipping out of the main group as soon as he had the chance.

Following the trail of her dress, Peter was led deeper and deeper into the middle of the maze. “Hey!” he called out, frowning when she continued to run, “Hey, where are you going?”

When he rounded the next corner, he yelped as someone grabbed him from behind, a sharp pain in his neck before everything went dark.

The next time he woke up, Peter whimpered at the knowledge that he was tied to a wooden chair in the middle of a basement. “What’s going on?” he asked, trying to peer into the darkness, “Who are you, why are you doing this?”

“You’re our prisoner…” a male voice said from the darkness, “… we’re not nice men and we’re doing it for the money.”

“I-I don’t have much spending money.” Peter tried to explain, “I only have a little bit left for the souvenir shop, and Dad likes it when I get him magnets, and- “

“- It’s not YOUR money we’re interested in…. Peter Stark, the only son of billionaire Anthony Stark.”

“So… you want a ransom?” Peter frowned, straightening up as much as he could to try and appear brave, “G-go ahead then! But they won’t pay, because we don’t negotiate with terrorists!”

The man laughed, a delighted sound. “So brave! But no, notes are so old-fashioned nowadays… a finger should do the trick. Can match your little fingerprints.”

Peter was silent for a few moments, “I-I’m not scared of you! I’m Peter Stark, son of Tony Stark and he said that my S-Sire was the bravest Alpha around, s-s-so you don’t scare me!”

“Even your Sire would cry at the sight of this beauty.” A sliver of night reflected off the blade of a knife, “Keep still now.”

Before they reached him however, there was a metal clanging sound as something rebounded off the walls, hitting people as they grunted and yelped in pain. 

“Let him go!” Ordered a deep voice, “Or I will be forced to put you down for good.”

He sounded like a comic book superhero, and Peter couldn’t help but stare at the Alpha in awe.

“NOW!”

The Alpha roar echoed throughout the room, and almost instantly, Peter felt someone cutting through the ropes that bound him to the chair

“Come here…” The Alpha gently encouraged Peter to walk over to him, his tone very different from before, “… you see those stairs? Follow them, and they’ll lead you outside. Wait for me there.”

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

The Alpha chuckled, “We’ll talk later, now go!”

Peter raced up the stairs, unaware of the exchange going on behind him.

…………………………………………………………………………

“Or I will be forced to put you down for good?” Clint chuckled as he and Nat were each thrown a small sack of gold each, “Could you get any cheesier?”

Steve rolled his eyes, “It worked didn’t it? Are you sure he didn’t see you?”

“Well obviously he saw Nat, but she knows how to change her appearance. It won’t be a problem.”

As Steve went to leave, Clint spoke up again. “Steve… are you sure he’s your son. There are rumours that Tony and Bucky- “

“- I don’t know.” Steve confessed, “But I’m going to find out. No matter what.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Peter.”

Peter yelped slightly, shooting to his feet as the strange Alpha approached.

“Peter, are you alright?”

“You saved me!” Peter gushed, as the Alpha led him to a car, “Like a superhero! Do you have a name? Can I give you a name, like-like Captain America or something!”

“Why Captain America?” The Alpha sounded almost fond.

“Well, you are dressed in red, white and blue.”

“An excellent point. Now, you’ve gone through quite the ordeal… you are a very brave young man, but you are quite far from home. I will have Sam send a message to your Father, and he can take you home tomorrow morning after breakfast. It is far too late now.”

“W-what’s your name?”

The Alpha smiled fondly at him, “For now, you can call me the Count of Monte Cristo.”

…………………………………………………………….

The next morning, Peter made his way slowly downstairs. The Count had put him up in a lovely bedroom with a large bed, as well as washing his clothes so that he could wear them this morning.

Now, where did he say the kitchen was again?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………

“I think he’s a little lost.” Sam watched the child wander around, a fond smile on his face, “Brave little kid, isn’t he? Stark’s a good influence.”

Silence.

“He might really be yours; do you really want to keep acting like he’s a means to an end?”

“Just- “Steve took a deep breath, “- go and find him.”

“If you insist Your Grace.”

Less than ten minutes later, Sam was leading Peter into the room, the teenager babbling about something, a beaming grin on his face.

“Peter!” Steve interrupted, his own smile on his face, “Come in, take a seat. How did you sleep last night?”

“Really, really well! I dreamt that I was a superhero like you!”

Steve chuckled warmly, “I’m no superhero.”

“Then… how did you know that I’d been kidnapped?”

This kid definitely had Tony’s brains.

“I have many connections, some of which are… well, not very nice people. I pay well to be told of anything important going on, in any city that I stay in. And the kidnapping of Tony Stark’s son is important.”

Peter frowned, “But you risked your life to save me? That makes you a hero, right?”

Silence.

“Mr Count Sir?”

“I’ve heard some good things about your Dad.” Steve finally managed to force out, “I like to think if I had a son like you, Tony would save him if he were in trouble.”

“He would.” Peter confirmed.

“I know… Tony will be very proud of you when he hears about how brave you were.”

As breakfast was brought into the room, Peter was silent for a few moments, until he perked up again. “You should come and meet him! He’ll want to thank you in person!”

“Unfortunately, I can’t.” Steve didn’t think he could bare to see Tony again until all of this was over, “I have… business.”

“Please!” Peter clasped his hands together and gave Steve the best puppy dog eyes that he could.

Steve was unable to resist.

“Sam.”

“Yes, Your Grace?”

“Where do we stand with my little business ventures?”

Sam hesitated for a few moments, eyes darting over to Peter, before he shrugged. “As far as I know, nothing important is due to happen for another… three weeks?”

“Three weeks, you can visit some time in three weeks, right?!” Peter immediately piped up

Steve chuckled fondly, “Very well. I will see what I can do.”

“Yes! You can come to my birthday party!”

“And how old will you be Peter?”

“Thirteen.”

Steve ignored Sam’s significant look. He knew that the timeline fit perfectly.

Peter could very well be his son.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

“Happy birthday kiddo!” Tony whooped, pulling his son into a hug, as everyone attending the party cheered, “Did you get everything you wanted?”

“Almost!” Peter glanced around the room, a sad pout on his face, “I thought- “

“- Sirs, there’s a Count of Monte Cristo here to see the birthday boy.”

“He’s here! He’s here!” Peter broke away from his Dad, and rushed over to the doorway, where the mysterious new Alpha, who had arrived not too long ago was standing, “Mister Count Sir!”

Tony watched as the Alpha smiled warmly at Peter.

“Happy Birthday Peter.”

However, even as he watched the exchange, Tony was unaware of someone else’s attention.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Steve knew he had to remain calm as he watched Bucky strut over… like he had no care in the world. Peter seemed to practically shrink at the sight of the other Alpha.

“Hello Mister Barnes Sir…” He mumbled, very different to the child who had greeted Steve so eagerly, “… This is the Count of Monte Cristo.”

Bucky smirked, holding out his hand, “Nice to meet you.”

Once again, Steve had to remain calm as he returned the handshake. With his new strength, all it would take was a firm squeeze and Bucky’s hand would be broken. “The pleasure is all mine.” He forced a smile onto his face, “I’ve been waiting for this day for a very long time.”

There was a moment of confused hesitation, before Bucky shrugged, “Well, have you met Tony yet? I’m surprised he didn’t try, and have you knighted for saving little Petey here.”

“I hear my name!”

Steve turned and made eye contact with his omega and Tony stopped in his tracks. The hesitation must have only lasted around two seconds, and honestly, Steve was expecting Tony to plaster on his ‘media’ smile and act like nothing happened.

But Tony honestly seemed stunned, one hand flying to his pocket as he slowly moved forwards.

“Mister Stark.” Steve whispered, “A pleasure to meet you.”

“T-Thank you.” Tony cleared his throat, and straightened up, “I heard what Bucky said about knighting you… I can do that if you want. For saving Peter?”

Steve knew he was flushing slightly as Tony moved a little bit closer, “It was nothing.” He tried to play it off, “I’m sure that in a months’ time, you won’t even remember my name.”

But Tony continued to stare at him, with Bucky glancing between the two of them

“Is something wrong?” Steve asked, hoping that his beard was doing a good enough job of concealing his identity.

“You just… remind me of someone.” Tony’s hand was still in his pocket, clutching at something, “Someone I used to know, someone who I was… close to.”

“Thank you.” Steve suspected he knew who Tony was talking about, “May I ask what happened to him?”

“He’s dead.” Bucky interrupted harshly, “My best friend you know. A tragic miscarriage of justice.”

Before Tony could say anything, Jarvis appeared again, “Senator Pierce and his wife are here, along with a certain Rumlow and- “

“- Here?” Tony scowled, “What are they doing here? I don’t remember inviting them, in fact, I’m sure I didn’t! Was this Pepper?”

“I’ll handle it.” Bucky disappeared into the ground, completely missing Tony’s suspicious looks… and how the Count followed him.

……………………………………………………………………………………….

“Senator Pierce!” Bucky started the conversation off friendly enough, pulling the gentleman away from his wife, “What are you doing here?!”

“Why, I invited them!”

Bucky spun around, to see the Count of Monte Cristo smirking at him. The other Alpha turned his attention to the Senator and smiled. “This would have been the last opportunity to see me whilst I was still in town, after all.”

“Yes, it was very kind of you to invite us!” Mrs Pierce beamed, “I brought a small present for the Stark boy. Nothing too extravagant, I’m sure Anthony has that area covered. James, are you any closer to proposing to him, an omega like that can’t remain single for too much longer?”

Bucky floundered for a few moments, not quite sure how he was going to answer the question, spotting the Count leading Pierce away to a quieter area of the room.

Later, when he saw that Peirce was alone again, he singled for the man to meet him near the elevator.

“Not sticking around for the meal?”

Bucky winced, spinning around to face an unimpressed Tony. “I have… something to do.”

“Suits me.” Tony shrugged, “It’ll put an end to those rumours that we’re courting.”

“Is it… such a horrible thought? The idea of us courting?”

“Bucky…” Tony sighed, “… Maybe once a point a time, we could have had something. But after Steve- “He stopped, clearing his throat, “- Never mind. Let Jarvis know when you plan to leave, he’ll call up a car for you.”

“I’ll say goodbye to Peter as well.”

“I wouldn’t bother. He’ll probably be too busy with his friends.” And with that, Tony spun around on his heal and left.

Bucky resisted the urge to throw his glass against the wall.

However, he couldn’t get distracted now. Taking a deep, calming breath, Bucky went to meet Pierce, knowing that Rumlow and Rollins would probably be with him.

“Bucky, my dear boy.” Pierce smirked as he walked into sight, “How- “

“- I thought we agreed never to meet socially, not with Steve blabbing out that I sold him out. How am I meant to get Tony to trust me again?”

“How could refuse a chance to meet the Count of Monte Cristo?”

Bucky’s interest was immediately peeked. “What do you know about him?”

“Foreign and rich… and a bit of a hero from what I heard.”

“A possible HYDRA ally?”

Pierce smirked, “Why should I tell you?”

“Monte Cristo is an island, one that has been rumoured to house the Treasure of Spada… do you really think the name is a coincidence?”

“You believe he found the treasure and… bought himself the new name.” Pierce hummed, “he was hoping for some help getting a shipment through customs. If we have it… relocated and split it between us….” He trailed off, giving Bucky a significant look, “… well maybe, you’ll finally have enough to impress a certain omega.”

“Let’s do it then.”

……………………………………………………..……..

Tony couldn’t help but smile proudly as he took his seat at the top table, watching as Peter chattered eagerly with all his friends, flushing as that strange Alpha, Wade, winked at him from a lower table.

Nice kid... a little older than Peter, but he’d respectfully kept his distance, so Peter couldn’t argue with that.

“Mister Stark.”

Turning away from his son, Tony flushed at the sight of the Count standing at his side.

“I was hoping I might say something. A speech for Peter’s birthday?”

Tony hesitated for a moment, before waving his hand in dismissal, “Go for it…. I didn’t really have anything concrete planned anyway.”

It was a lie, but his speech mentioned Steve and honestly, Tony felt a little too raw to be speaking about Steve tonight.

“Thank you, Mister Stark.” The Alpha bowed, “You won’t regret it.”

He moved back to his table, clinking a spoon against the glass in order to grab everyone’s attention. When the room fell silent, the Count cleared his throat. “I know that I’m not who you expected to be speaking tonight, but thanks to our hosts hospitality, he has given me the opportunity to make a birthday toast.” He took a deep breath, “I know that Peter has probably been exaggerating what happened on that field trip a little bit- “

One look at Peter’s face confirmed it all.

“When I arrived at place, I watched as the criminals who tied Peter to a chair in the middle of the room, threatened to cut off his finger and send it to his Father as evidence of his kidnapping.”

One look at Tony’s face, told everyone that this part of the story had been left out.

“And the boy’s reply to all of this, was… ‘I’m not scared of you’.” 

Everyone clapped at this, Peter flushing a bright red as they all turned to him.

“Life is a storm Peter…” The Count continued, “… You will bask in the sunlight one moment and be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man, is what you do when that storm comes. You must look at that storm and shout, as you did to your kidnappers. ‘I’m not scared of you!’ Then the fates will see you as we do. As Peter Stark, your own man.”

The Count raised his glass into the air, and everyone got to their feet clapping and cheering as Peter flushed with pleasure. Tony tried to catch the Alpha’s eyes, needing to say thank you for making Peter feel truly special.

The Count was looking somewhere else however, as one hand went and brushed his hair back, one finger twirling the longer locks around for a few seconds.

Tony stared in awe and utter shock, a single hand flying over his mouth to hide the gasp of disbelief, the simplicity but severity of the action hitting him. It was something so minor, so small, an overlooked quirk that Steve always had when his hair was longer than he particularly liked. Tony always liked it a little longer, but Steve grew frustrated.

And when he was frustrated with it, he would continually brush his hair back, twirling a single lock around on his finger, until he declared that he “couldn’t understand how Bucky lived like this.”

Tony was smart, everyone had always told him so, and there was no way in hell that this mysterious Count was not his Steve.

How though?

How can Steve possibly be sitting mere meters away from him?

Tony had no fucking idea, but he knew that this man, this stranger, was his Steve. He needed to speak to him, more than he needed to breathe, he needed to speak to this Alpha.

He remained at a safe distance, continuously watching the Alpha for the rest of the evening, until the Count made his excuses and left. 

“I’m just going to get some air.” He made his on excuses to whoever he was speaking to (honestly, he had lost interest right at the beginning of the conversation), and started to weave through the throng of partygoers, sliding past guest after guest, navigating his way to the same exit he’d seen the Count… Steve… whoever, walk through.

Once out of the main room, he glanced frantically around, trying to see where the Alpha had gone. Spotting him near the front doors, Tony ran to the bannister and leaned over the side of it. “STEVE!”

The Count’s long gaits slowed down marginally, but he didn’t turn around.

“It is you.” Tony started to make his way down the stairs, towards the Alpha, “Steve.”

The Count still didn’t turn, although his head did tilt slightly to one side. “Who is Steve?”

“You.” Tony moved until he was directly in front of the Count, “You’re my Steve! Yes, you’re about twice his height and twice as broad, and I don’t know how, but you are him!”

“Who?” The Count’s face scrunched up in confusion, “My apologies Mister Stark, but you’re mistaken.”

“No! I’m not, I am never mistaken!” Tony frowned, “Bucky told me you died though.”

“Did he now?” The Count muttered bitterly under his breath, before taking a step back, “No. I am sorry Mister Stark, but I am not this… Steve.”

“Stop it.” Tony hissed, having enough of these games, “If you’re not Steve, then what are you? Who are you? Another lingering, cruel spirit? A new ghost sent to haunt me?!”

The Count sighed deeply, glancing down at the ground before turning his attention back to Tony. “This Steve… you loved him?”

“Yes. More than anything!”

“For how long?”

“I will love Steve for as long as I’m alive.” They were practically chest to chest now, close enough that Tony could feel the slight tickling of the Count’s breath against his face.

“So, the rumours about your and Barnes are… what?”

“Rumours!” Tony glared up at the man, “Nothing but rumours.”

The Count seemed a little stunned to hear it but shook his head anyway and moved to leave.

“Steve!” Tony cried out.

“I. A. Not. Steve!” The Count spun round and glared at him, “I’m not him!”

“Steve, please…”

“Stop calling me that!” The Count stated firmly, “I am not looking for an omega, and I’m certainly not looking for one as needy and clingy as you!”

Tony couldn’t help but take a step back, utterly shocked by the Count’s words. He felt like he had just been backhanded across the face. “How dare you!” he hissed; voice spiked with venom “You’re right. You could never be my Steve. My Steve was kind, not… cruel and hateful!” He took a step back, hand pulling Steve’s watch out of his pocket and glancing inside, “My Steve is long dead and gone.”

“Exactly.” The Count nodded his head, eyes glancing at the watch, “Steve Rogers is dead.”

Lowering his head, Tony remained silent.

“Tell Peter I wish him a very happy birthday. Goodnight.” The Count left without looking back once, though he must have been aware that Tony was watching him leave.

He was so certain, so sure, without a doubt, that the Count was Steve. Yes, the Count was practically twice Steve’s size, and twice as broad, but they looked so similar. Feeling foolish for his emotional outburst, Tony placed the watch back in his pocket and took a deep breath, clearing his mind to go back upstairs.

And then it hit him.

Realisation dawned on him like a lightning bolt to the system. The Count’s parting words echoing over and over again in his mind… there was something off about it.

Steve Rogers is dead, Steve Rogers is dead, Steve Rogers is dead.

“But… I never said his full name.”

……………………………………………………………………………………..

“Steve?” Sam frowned as Steve entered the home, before collapsing onto the sofa and burying his face in his hands, “Steve, what’s- “

“- He knows.” Steve interrupted, “Tony knows.”

“Isn’t that a good thing?” Sam clarified, completely perplexed

Steve just shrugged, haunted by the memory of Tony’s devastated face… the moment he almost let his guard down and revealed everything.

Seeing Tony, talking to him after all this time… it was almost too much to bear. Those gorgeous eyes, that wicked smirk, the way is suit fitted to him.

“I need to go for a walk.” Steve sighed, “Is everything going according to plan.”

“… You have a chance to end this Steve. Take Tony and your son and live your life.”

Steve was silent for a few moments, before he pushed himself to his feet. “I need to go for a walk.”

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Jack Rollins smirked as the chest was opened up to reveal thousands of small gold coins. “Put one in our car for our cut.” He ordered a blonde-haired man, “Pierce and Barnes won’t notice.”

The man nodded, helping his colleagues load it all onto the back of a truck, where a gorgeous red head sat at the wheel.

‘Later’ Rollins thought to himself, smirking at the woman, who winked back, ‘Later.’

However, as the truck rolled out of sight, the sound of sirens filled the air and within seconds they were surrounded by the police.

“Jack Rollins?”

“… Yes.”

The Inspector frowned, “You are hereby charged with the theft of goods from a merchant ship.”

“Bullshit.”

“Now, now, this can all be resolved peacefully.”

Rollins turned, to see a figure standing there, dressed in a dark blue, almost body armour suit, a shield in his hands. 

“These men are simply going to search all your trucks.” 

Aside from the truck that had just left, all the others were still in near the docks, completely full of gold and they all knew it.

This was a frame-up, and Jack wasn’t going to prison for Barnes. 

Never.

He charged at the uniformed man, only to be batted to one side. He attacked again and again, growing more frustrated with every blocked strike. When he tried again, the man looped a rope around his neck and moved to one side, causing Jack to almost fall off the edge of the ship, stopped only by his grip on the man’s uniform.

“Who are you?!” Jack growled, knowing that he was one loose grip away from his death.

“Call me Captain America…” The man smirked, “… my friends call me Steve Rogers.”

Jack frowned in confusion, “Rogers?”

Rogers kicked him away, leaving him to cough and splutter at the end of the rope, before walking towards the officers.

“Cut him down before he can’t talk.”

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

For the next few hours, Steve watched quietly as he could, completely unnoticed as Rumlow and Pierce conducted their business in the steam house.

A bit of an odd place to meet, but it would ensure privacy.

Slowly, he turned up the heat, smirking as the pair huffed in displeasure.

“Boy, you know that’s too much!” Pierce snarled, the heat causing him to pant heavily.

“Senator Pierce, Mister Rumlow…” Steve smirked as the pair jumped, “… I hope you don’t mind if I join you for a while.”

“Your Grace… we weren’t expecting you.”

Steve shrugged, “I wanted to thank you personally for helping me with my shipment.”

“Yes, we… made all the arrangements earlier. I can assure you, there’ll be no more problems from that end.”

“Excellent.” Steve started to circle them, “I think this could be the start of a long and fruitful relationship. Speaking of which, I have a question for you.”

The pair practically squirmed in discomfort, “Yes.” Pierce cleared his throat, “Ask away.”

“Why was Mister Stark made to believe that Steve Rogers had died all those years ago?”

The silence was deafening.

“W-what are you talking about?” Rumlow grunted.

“And here I thought it was a simple question.”

“How do you know about Rogers?”

Steve chose not to answer, walking over to the dial and turning it up even further, as Pierce and Rumlow winced. Another benefit or Erskine’s serum was his tolerance for extreme temperatures.

“That’s- “Pierce panted, “- You don’t understand! Rogers was sticking his nose where it didn’t belong!”

“Now, we both know that what he found, would have landed you in jail for the rest of your miserable lives. So, you had him packed off to the worst prison in the world and told his omega- “

“- Your Grace!” Rumlow frantically pushed himself to his feet, “I don’t know why you’re bringing this up, but- “

“- So” Steve continued, as though Rumlow had never spoken up, “I asked myself, what could Senator Pierce and his loyal… pets possibly have to gain from imprisoning Rogers. That was easy… and then I asked myself, what would they have to gain by telling Mister Stark that his Alpha had been killed.”

Pierce stumbled over to the pool in the middle of the room, splashing his face in order to try and calm down.

“You two have nothing to gain.”

“Exactly, so why- “

“- Now, you could argue that HYDRA may have been trying to manipulate Stark into joining them or ignoring their actions by weakening him.” Steve smirked as the pair flinched at the mention of HYDRA, “Or… you could think that maybe the newly-single omega was a prize. A prize for a certain… what do you call him… Winter Soldier?”

“And what does this have to with our business relationship?” Pierce sneered, as Rumlow rushed over to the doors.

“They’re locked!” he called out, reappearing in the main hall, “Why are they locked!”

Pierce back to the Steve, who had blocked the other exit. “I demand that you let us go at once!”

“Why, you’ve proven that you’re no friends of mine.” Steve moved forwards, watching as Pierce fell into the pool, Rumlow floundering to help him, “Don’t think that I don’t know everything about HYDRA and their plots and plans. How they’ve worked their way into every corner of society, manipulating what they can to gain complete control over everything!”

“You. Have. NO. PROOF! You just have theories! J-Just conjectures!”

“Wrong. I have Barnes.”

Pierce sneered, “Barnes was the one who framed Rogers! Do you know how much money he was getting from the funds we embezzled?! There’s a reason he’s known as Lord Barnes now! No matter what he would have people believe, he was just as corrupt as us, he was just as much of a thief as we were!” He then straightened up, “He’ll never tell you a thing.”

“No… but you just did.”

Pulling on a rope, the vents opened, allowing the heavy steam to escape, to reveal policemen hidden in the alcoves, having clearly heard everything.

“Senator Pierce.” Inspector Fury stepped forwards, “Mister Rumlow, you are both under arrest for federal fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy to murder.”

Pierce glanced around frantically, before his eyes landed on Steve, eyes narrowing as he looked at the Count a little more closely.

And then his eyes widened in alarm.

“Rogers!”

Steve remained silent, not confirming or denying the accusing hisses that were thrown at him by Pierce, as the older man and his colleague were both handcuffed and led outside, to where a police van was waiting.

As they climbed inside, assisted by the Count, Pierce spotted two pistols resting on the bench.

“I’m feeling benevolent.” Steve smirked, before closing the door and taking a step back, staring at them through the barred windows.

For a moment, there was silence…. And then Pierce started to chuckle.

“Sir, what- “

“- Rogers is going to kill Barnes.” Pierce chuckled, “I call it… divine retribution.” He pulled the gun closer, lifting it up and putting it against his head in one swift movement, pulling the trigger… only to hear it click.

“What- “

“- You didn’t think I’d make it that easy for you, did you?” Rogers sneered at them through the bars, watching as the van pulled away, disappearing into the dark.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

“Welcome home.”

The Count jumped slightly, spinning around as Tony stepped out of the dark corners of the room. “What are you- how did you get in here?”

He had a right to be surprised. Tony had been meaning to speak to the man, finally mustering up the strength to do something about it, feeling completely and utterly raw. 

Where had the Count been anyway… why was he only just getting back, apparently not having slept all night. What had he been doing? What was he hiding?

“It’s Stark technology that keeps this place secure.” Tony shrugged, stepping closer, “I designed it, so I know all the loopholes. But of course, you have to know that… Steve.”

“Why are you still calling me that?” The Count sighed heavily, “My name is not Steve.”

“And why do you keep lying to me?!” Tony moved a little closer, “Why are you lying to me Steve?”

“Stop it. Get. Out!”

“Steve please.” Tony begged softly, not wanting to upset the man any further, “Just talk to me, I’ll do anything.”

The smell of distressed omega filled the air, and the Count, honest to God, whimpered, “I’m. Not. Steve!”

“Yes, you are! I know you are!”

“No, you DON’T!” The Count yelled at the top of his lungs, voice full of anger and bitterness, “Now GET OUT of my house!”

“I CAN’T!” Tony was tired, but he wasn’t going to let this go.

The Count took a deep breath, visibly trying to calm down, “I thought we settled this…” he eventually whispered, “… We discussed this. The man you know is dead, so let it go. I don’t know what else you want me to say, but the sooner you move on, the better you’ll feel.”

“And for a moment, I believed you.” Tony confessed, “For a moment, I thought it was just a coincidence, that maybe you just looked the same. I even tried to come up excuses for why you acted like him, despite being like… ten times his size.”

“I don’t act like- “

“Your nostril flares slightly when you get angry, the way you straighten and look up slightly, like you’re used to looking at someone taller than you.” Again, Tony moved closer, “The way you run your fingers through your hair, neatening it out, even when it really didn’t need it.”

The Count just stared at him, unmoving and practically unblinking.

“And I was going to write all that off, just say it was a coincidence… and then you said his name.”

The Count shook his head, “No, you’re the one who said his name.”

“I called him Steve, yeah.” Tony shrugged, “But I never once said his surname. You called him Steve Rogers, and I never called him by his first name.”

The Count turned away from him, clearly trying to get away from the conversation.

“Steve, please- “

“- What Tony.” The Count sounded like a completely different person now, “What do you want from me?”

Tony paused in shock. It was one thing to suspect something, but to have it confirmed was… something else entirely. “You’re alive then. You’ve always been alive.”

“… Yes.”

“But- but how? Where were you? Where have you been all this time.” Tony knew that he sounded hurt and wounded, “If you weren’t dead, why didn’t you come back for me… why didn’t you come back for us?”

“I spent eleven years in HELL!” Steve snapped, “Eleven years in captivity and over that time I was... forgotten! Nobody wants to think about poor, weak Alpha Steve Rogers.”

A tense silence filled the air, before Tony reached into his pocket and slowly pulled the compass out of his pocket. “You gave this to me.” He whispered, “And it has never left my side.”

Steve’s eyes widened as he stared at the compass, looking just as it had all those years. 

“I NEVER forgot you.” Tony hissed, “I heard your voice every time Peter got sulky about something, I knew what you’d say. I used to lie in bed and remember how your touch felt, how you used to smell. I saw your ghost every. Single. Damn. Day. You haunted my dreams, not one day passed where I didn’t mourn you! So, don’t you dare suggest that I didn’t miss you! That I EVER stopped loving you!”

“Tony…” Steve sighed, voice sounding fragile as he closed his eyes slowly.

Tony moved closer, sensing Steve’s guard was slowly starting to fall. “Stevie… What happened?”

“I-I was framed… dragged from the local police station and thrown into one of the toughest prisons in the world. All without a trial, without even a chance to defend myself.” Steve turned away slightly, unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it from his shoulders and dropping it to the ground, revealing the thing, white scars that littered his back. “They- they were cruel. I don’t think a single day passed by where I wasn’t getting beaten or whipped.”

Tony sucked in a breath sharply, eyes not believing what he was seeing. The slim, bony figure that he’d fallen in love with, had turned into lean muscles and hard lines.

Despite the ragged scars, he was still beautiful.

As he reached out to touch them, Steve took a step away.

“Don’t.” The Alpha whispered, hanging his head in shame.

Tony had never been good at following orders, continuing to move forwards until he could brush his fingertips against the rough marks. He was so used to feeling spine when he used to do this, the sensation was a little… unfamiliar.

Steve flinched at the feeling of Tony’s gentle touch but didn’t move away this time.

The more Tony inspected the wounds, the closer he came to tears. “Stevie…” he almost sobbed, cutting himself off as he darted forwards and wrapped his arms around his Alpha, breathing in that familiar scent.

Feeling tears against his exposed back, Steve moved to turn around, “Oh no, no, no.” He begged, “Don’t cry for me, please don’t cry. You know I hate seeing you cry.”

Tony did his best to stop, but it was like he’d been holding it in for over a decade, which simply wasn’t true.

He cried when he was told that Steve was dead.

He cried when Peter was born, and he realised Steve wasn’t there.

He cried after each and every milestone, wishing that Steve could be there to see it.

He cried on their anniversary, every single year.

He just couldn’t stop crying.

He saw the scars… he could practically hear Steve’s screams, and if all this happened before this miraculous transformation then- well, it was a miracle Steve had even survived.

“Tony please.” Steve gently encouraged the omega to look him in the eyes, the other hand gently brushing through the thick, dark hair, “Don’t cry for me, please.”

When Tony finally managed to calm down, he looked up at Steve, remaining in his arms. Steve held his gaze for a moment, before suddenly smashing their mouths together in a desperate, stolen kiss. 

It was at this moment, that Tony realised exactly what he’d missed over the last decade.

Before he could properly enjoy it however, Steve broke away abruptly.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered, “I shouldn’t have- “He gently pushed Tony away, ignoring the look of confusion on the omegas’ face, “You should go.”

“Not a chance in hell.” Tony crossed his arms, “You’re not shutting me out again.” He continued forwards, backing Steve up against the wall, “You don’t get to push me out again.”

There was an awkward silence, as Tony stared at his Alpha. He wondered if Steve ever missed him too, if he thought about Tony like he thought about Steve.

Was Steve ever lonely?

“Stop.” Steve suddenly whispered, “Please don’t look at me like that.”

“…. Tell me exactly what they did to you.”

And so, Steve told him, revealing all that had happened during his time in prison. The psychological and physical torture, from waterboarding to cutting to branding. No matter how times he thought his heart was going to stop, they kept bringing him back only to start the whole process over again.

Tony felt like he was going to pass out by the end. 

“I suffered every day. I don’t know if they though I actually mattered, but even when it became clear that I didn’t know anything, they never killed me.” Steve turned away, “I remember wanting so desperately to die, but they refused to kill me.”

A small smile then appeared on his face, “Just when I was about to give up all hope, I met Erskine. He made life bearable.”

“… What happened to him?”

“He died.” Steve stated simply, glancing down at his hands, “But not without giving me this body, and a chance to escape. I will never forget him so long as I live.”

Tony didn’t even know the man but sent a quick thank you to the heavens for giving his Alpha some companionship.

“I escaped, and now, I will have my revenge.”

“Steve, you- “

Steve moved his hands to cradle Tony’s face, tenderly tilting his head up to face him, “I can’t get you out of my mind though.” He whispered, “To think, I almost forgot that smile… those eyes…. Those sassy comments that I can never quite expect.”

“Steve…” Tony breathed, reaching to run his fingers across Steve’s cheek, trying to get familiar with this new, yet familiar, face. So much has changed about him. Tony could still see the young man he’d fallen in love with, behind the dark shadows of his eyes. Behind all that pain, he could still see his Steve.

Gently, he pulled Steve’s face down to his, pressing his lips against the Alpha’s. “I missed you.” He whispered brokenly, “I missed you so much.”

He pressed himself closer to the Alpha, capturing his lips in a kiss once again, fingers moving to comb through the longer blonde hair. When Steve lifted him into the air, encouraging Tony to wrap his legs around his waist, the omega moaned in delight.

This was new.

As Steve gently lay his omega down on the bed, he broke away for a moment and looked down at Tony, “Are you sure that we should- “

“- Yes.” Tony gasped, “Yes, yes, yes!” He ran his hands over Steve’s new body. Nothing else mattered but this. He wanted it to happen as quickly as possible, but at the same time, he wanted to take his time re-learning his body. No matter how much they’d changed, they still fit together perfectly.

……………………………………………………………………..

The following morning, as the sun started to peek over the horizon, Tony and Steve lay there in silence. Their clothes were strewn all over the room, and the omega felt pleasurably sore in places he’d almost forgotten about.

Steve was tracing the angles of Tony’s face, committing them to memory once more, causing the omega’s eyes to flutter closed in delight. He’d forgotten what it felt like to be touched like this by the Alpha, to hear his own name whispered like he was a God.

When he opened his eyes up, Tony couldn’t help but smile at the sight of Steve just staring at him.

“Like what you see?”

An incredulous look flashed across Steve’s face, as if he couldn’t believe Tony had asked such a ridiculous question. “I could stare at you all day and all night, and it still wouldn’t be enough.” He replied, voice barely over a whisper as he pulled Tony closer to him.

“What’s Peter like?” Steve questioned softly against Tony’s bare skin.

“Hmmm?”

“Peter.” Steve wondered again, just as soft as the first time, “Is he like you, or me?”

“Both of us really.” Tony answered, fingers combing through Steve’s hair, “My brains… your righteous sense of justice and stubbornness.”

Steve’s hands then moved down to Tony’s stomach, which still bared light stretch marks from the experience. “Did it hurt?”

“Honestly… I wasn’t feeling anything but numbness back then.”

That’s a lie. It did hurt, more than anything. Omega births without the Alpha were risky, with many omega’s succumbing to the pain and passing away, not able to deal with the heartbreak. Pepper once confessed to him, that she’d already drawn up the paperwork for Peter to be the new heir… just in case.

Steve seemed to hear the unspoken statement, as he tightened his hold on Tony.

“I wish we could be together.” Steve then whispered, “One big happy family, like we always talked about.”

“Why can’t we?”

“This whole thing… this horrible mess goes beyond both of us.” Steve sighed, “There are people who need to die, who deserve to suffer. And I need to make sure they do…. Then, and only then can I be happy.”

“Steve… you don’t have to do this.” Tony frowned, “We can go back home now, you can meet Peter officially as his Sire and we can focus on being a family. You don’t need to get revenge.” He linked hands with Steve, “Leave all this behind, just be happy with me and Peter.”

“I-I-I don’t- “

“I know we always joked that I’d be your ‘sugar daddy’, but at least we don’t have to deal with those accusations anymore.” Tony glanced around at the extravagant room, “I think you might be as rich as me now.”

“But- “Steve frowned, “- I can’t just- You’re asking me to just let them get away with it!”

“Yes! Yes, I am! In fact, I’m begging you, and you know I don’t like to beg!”

When Steve remained silent, Tony sighed, “Do you still love me Steve?”

“Yea… yes, with all my life! I could never stop, never!”

“Then please… stop.”

Steve just rolled over, leaving the bed and getting changed, dodging Tony’s attempts to pull him back. It was almost like he was in a trance.

“Steve stop, please, you need to- “

“- I have to end this.”

“End what?!” Tony moved to follow Steve, not bothering to cover himself, “What are you doing?!”

Steve hesitated near the doorway, before turning back to Tony, no emotion on his face whatsoever. “Getting rid of the last rat.”

“Who?”

“… Why don’t you ask my good friend Bucky what happened that night I got arrested?”

…………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Tony had never driven so recklessly since… well, since last week.

He needed to get home. He needed to get to Peter.

He needed to come back to Steve with their son.

He needed to speak to Bucky.

He had absolutely no idea what to expect, having been kept in the dark for so long. Does Bucky know that Steve never died? Does Bucky know who the Count really is? Does he know how much Steve suffered? Did he help… was he the cause of it all.

The idea alone was enough for him to pull over and empty the contents of his stomach on the side of the road.

He needed to speak to Bucky.

There was a constant assault of unanswered questions racing around his mind as he stormed into the home, only to walk into a scene of chaos.

“Jarvis, what the hell is going on?!”

At the bellow, Peter came rushing to the top of the stairs, tears running down his cheeks. “Dad, Bucky’s gone mad!”

Bucky?

Bucky was the cause of all this mess?

It looked like he was looking for something.

“Barnes!” Tony yelled, storming up the stairs, “Barnes! Barnes, what the fuck- “He entered his room, only to see Bucky shoving everything into a suitcase. “What the fuck are you doing?”

Usually he was mindful of his language around Peter, but these were… unique circumstances.

“I’m bankrupt!” Bucky snarled, “All my debts have been called in, and apparently I’m going to be arrested! I was promised gold, and all I got were empty chests!”

“…. Arrested for what?”

“Name a crime, and they’re going to arrest me for me it!”

Tony glanced around the room, watching as Bucky continued to shove the clothes into the numerous suitcases. “And this concerns me how? Have you actually committed a crime?”

“… Would you lend me one of your lawyers if I did. The blind one maybe.”

Tony couldn’t help but cackle, “Matt can hear a lie ten miles away. No, you’re better off running away.”

“Why do you think I’m packing all your stuff?!”

Raising an eyebrow, Tony smirked. “And what makes you think I’m coming with you?”

Bucky stopped, as Tony continued.

“We’re not courting… we barely even friends nowadays. Why would I drag myself down with you?”

“Tony- “

“Steve’s alive by the way.”

“… What?” Bucky questioned, face paling slightly.

“Steve. Is. Alive.” Tony spit through his teeth, ignoring his son’s shocked gasp behind him, “Remember when you told me he’d died?”

“He is! Or at least… I thought he was and- “

“- He’s not though!” Tony narrowed his eyes, “Is that a look of guilt on your face Barnes?”

Bucky just looked at the ground.

Tony took a deep and mighty breath, closing his eyes for a moment, “Alright then… Let me tell you what I think happened. I think you were jealous of Steve. You saw him as the weaker Alpha, and yet I chose him over you. You got involved with someone, I suspect Pierce is involved in all this, and had Steve framed and thrown in prison.”

Bucky’s fist tightened.

“What were you hoping would happen Barnes?” Tony hissed, “That I would fall madly in love with you once Steve was dead. That I would just bond to you, pass Peter off as your son and we could live that white-picket fence life?”

“The brat was meant to die!” Bucky yelled, finally looking up at Tony, face red in anger, “You were distraught! Most omegas miscarry, but not you! Oh no, you just had to be the ‘big, strong, don’t need an Alpha’ omega!”

“… And then you would swoop in to ‘save’ me?” Tony felt a small pressure on his back, reaching behind him to comfort Peter, as the younger omega snuffled in distress, “Was that your big plan?”

“I LOVE YOU!” Bucky screamed, “I’ve always loved you! Ever since the first moment we met, I’ve loved you, but you just saw Steve! It was all about Steve!”

“So, you lied to me.” Tony hissed, “You lied to me for over ten years, pretending to be my friend, when you were the one who ruined my life!”

As Bucky reached out to take his arm, Tony took a step back, slapping the hand away. “Don’t. Touch. Me!”

Tony felt like he was going to be sick, the memory of Steve’s scars flashing through his mind. Bucky was the one who caused them, almost like he’d inflicted them himself.

“Get the hell out of my house.” Tony ordered, “NOW!”

Without waiting for an answer, Tony grabbed his son’s hand and pulled him towards the garage.

“Dad! Dad!”

As Peter yelped behind him, not fully realising what was going on, Tony came to a complete halt, leaning against the wall, before sinking to the ground.

“Shit! Fuck! Shit!” He yelled, barely registering the fact that Peter didn’t appear to be by his side anymore.

And then there was a sharp pain in the back of his head, and everything went black.

…………………………………………………………………………………..

Steve heard Tony leave not ten minutes after their argument… usually, he’d try and chase after him, begging the omega not to leave, but he had to get out, get away before he said something unforgivable. He had to get out before the over-riding rage that was bubbling up rapidly under his skin caused him to lash out.

A small part of his mind did whisper that maybe Tony was right…. Maybe he could stop now.

It was a fantasy though.

“Steve?” Sam emerged from his own room, wincing as Steve just stormed past him, almost barrelling into Clint and Nat as they peeked out to see what was happening.

“Steve? What’s going on?”

Steve ignored him, unlocking the cabinet that contained his uniform.

“Steve, what are you doing? What happened?!”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“It does matter!” Sam stepped closer, gesturing for Clint and Nat to hang back slightly, “We haven’t seen you since last night after Pierce was arrested, and then his morning, Tony come racing out of your room. What’s going on?”

“I’m ending this.”

Sam shook his head wearily, “Steve, you- “

When Steve turned around to face him, glaring at him with cold, dead eyes. “Get out of my way Sam.”

Holding his hands up in a ‘calm down’ gesture, Sam blocked Steve’s path, scanning him up and down, “Think about what you’re about to do. Outing HYDRA for the criminals they are is one thing, murder is another thing entirely.”

“Get out of my way!”

“Steve, come on, you’re not thinking straight. Take a few deep breaths, like I told you remember?”

Steve just glared at him, “Move… or I’ll shoot you in the leg. This has gone on for long enough.”

As he pushed past Sam, he failed to notice how his phone buzzed on the table. Tony’s name popping up on the screen.

………………………….………………………………………………………

Barnes wasn’t at home…. Which either meant he was on the run after the news from last night.

Or he was at Tony’s

Thankfully, aside from Tony’s robotic assistants, security was poor. However, when he stormed into the mansion, it was clear that something was wrong.

Darkness.

“Jarvis?”

Silence.

Listening out, Steve slowly moved through the large home, through hallway after vast hallway, until he heard banging behind a solid oak door.

Almost like someone was fighting.

“Quit squirming!” He heard Barnes snarl, “Knock it off, or the kid dies!”

Within seconds, the door was on the floor, and Steve was storming through it, face twisting in anger at the sight of Tony tied up on the bed, a shaken Peter in the corner… and a stunned Barnes staring at him.

“M-monte Cristo?!”

“Hey Buck.” Steve hissed, smirking as Barnes quickly climbed off the bed.

“Shit…” He hissed, “… It really is you. Stevie, I- “

“- Surprise.” Steve smiled mockingly sweet, “Miss me?”

“Steve, wait, I need to- “

“- Step away from MY omega and MY son!”

“Stevie, please, can’t we just talk about this.”

Steve shrugged, stepping a bit further into the room, “What’s there to talk about?”

“Steve, please just- “

“No!” Steve snarled, “I don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to hear all your shitty excuses!”

“Just let me explain!” Bucky pleaded, shuffling back slightly and holding up his hands in surrender.

“Explain?! Explain what?! Explain how you fucked me over! Explain how you fed me to the fucking wolves, how you stabbed me in the back! And then, just when you thought I was out of your life, you tried to steal the love of MY life!” Steve smirked, “I’ve changed my mind. Let’s talk about that.”

All Bucky could do was shake his head repeatedly, unable to form any words, hands still up in surrender.

“You know, when this all happened, right at the start, I couldn’t wrap my head around it all.” Steve shook his head, “I spent hours, days staring at a stone wall, trying to connect the dots, trying to make sense of what had happened. I just couldn’t understand how my best friend in the entire world, betrayed me suddenly.”

“I- “

“I couldn’t think of the motive… what did I have that you didn’t. I was just an artist, living on an artist’s wage. I wasn’t part of some rich, well to do family, you know that! My Father died before I was born, and my mum passed away when I was in my teens. The only thing I had was love… someone who loved me for being me. Unfortunately, you loved him as well.”

Bucky remained silent; eyes wide in alarm.

Combing his hands through his hair, Steve shook his head, “I’ve thought about this moment every single day since it happened, I even took comfort in it. I thought about Tony… and I thought about this day, when I would come back, see the look of shock in your eyes as I kill you.”

Bucky sucked in a heavy breath, face paling dramatically.

“You broke me! You took everything from me! Everything!” Steve spat, voice echoing through the almost deserted building, “You shattered my life and turned it all upside down! You robbed me of my happiness and stole every bit of joy from my life! You betrayed me!”

He glanced over at Tony, who was trying to comfort a shaking Peter.

“At first, I knew I was innocent.” Steve sighed, “I knew I didn’t deserve any of this, it plagued my mind, reminding me just how wronged I was… until I started to doubt myself. I was losing my mind, to the point where I believed that I’d done something wrong! That’s what abuse and torture does to you, you know?” He shrugged, “To, essentially, come back from the dead, I had to hold onto all this pain and find the people who betrayed me.”

“Steve…” Bucky looked like every word pained him

“And you know what hurts the most?”

Silence

“What hurts the most, is that you were my best friend!” Steve could feel hot tears prickling the rims of his eyes, “You were my brother, the only family I had left! My mum treated you like you were her own! I would have done anything for you, anything!”

Bucky just shook his head, looking completely lost.

“Mum would be so disappointed in you. She would hate you for everything that you put me through, and you know how long it took for my mum to truly hate someone.” Steve’s teeth were gritted together, eyes raging with pure hatred as the tears spilled over.

All the positive memories that he had of him and Bucky growing up, were now tainted by his own screams of pain, and the lingering feeling of something slicing into his back. All those happy memories were now shrouded in a loathsome darkness, poisoned by toxic hate.

“Stevie.”

That wasn’t Bucky’s voice.

Eyes darting over to his newly freed omega (it was nice to see that Peter had seized that opportunity), Steve frowned at the disapproving look on Tony’s face.

“Please… not in front of Peter. Not in front of your son.”

Peter visibly tensed up at this, glancing over at Steve in amazement, before burying his face back in his Dad’s chest.

“Don’t look so stunned brat.” The fearful tone in Bucky’s voice had completely disappeared, only to be replaced by anger, “You’re the walking proof that your Daddy dearest was as much of a whore back then, as he is now.”

And then, quicker than Steve or Tony could react, Bucky darted to the side and grabbed Peter, wrenching him from Tony’s grip and wrapping a hand around his throat.

“BARNES!” Tony was off the bed in seconds, only held back as Steve grabbed his collar, not wanting his omega to get hurt in some meaningless fight, “LET HIM GO!”

“Buck, don’t do this.” Steve forced himself to keep his voice calm, trying to make himself sound like the Steve of old, “This is between you and me… you don’t need to bring Peter into all this.”

“Wrong!” Bucky snarled, “This was all meant to be mine, and then you just had to come back and ruin everything!”

“I was never going to be yours!” Tony struggled against Steve’s grip, “Now get your hands off my son.”

“Tony, I really don’t think this is helping.” The scene reminded Steve of all the times Tony would come to his defence in the past, snarling at anyone who called him a poor Alpha, “Bucky… let him go. Just let him go and leave. Call it mercy.”

“Oh Stevie.” The smirk on Bucky’s face was sinister, “You were so close to being a true Alpha. I should have known the snivelling, weakling you used to be was still in there somewhere.” His grip on Peter tightened and the omega teen whimpered.

With one hand still on Peter’s neck, Bucky reached into a back pocket, pulling out a gun, causing Steve and Tony to tense up.

“You want to live, don’t you Buck.” Steve snarled, “You’ve got one shot, and that’s not going to be enough to stop me.”

“Then I’d better put it where it’ll do the most damage.” Aiming the gun slightly more to the left, Bucky fired. 

Tony fell to the ground, and seconds later, an arrow found its way into Bucky’s wrist, causing him to scream in pain and he tried to stumble to freedom, pushing Peter on top of Tony’s bloody body as he rushed for the door.

He knew Steve wouldn’t go after him, not when Tony was gasping in pain.

“Daddy! Daddy!” Peter sobbed; hands already stained red as he tried to help his Papa stem the flow of blood.

“Tony!” Steve was just as upset, “Oh god, what have I done. Clint! I know you’re there! Help!”

From seemingly out of nowhere, three people emerged from the shadows.

“Do you want us to go after him?” Clint asked, “He’ll need to get his wrist looked out, if we corner him at the nearest hospital, then we can- “

“- Sam, help here. Nat, Clint, go after him!”

“On it!”

As the pair raced off to catch up with Barnes, Sam rushed over to the small family, gently moving Steve and Peter’s hand from the wound so that he could examine it himself.

“It’s just a flesh wound.” Sam whispered reassuringly, “He’ll live.”

“J-Just a flesh wound he says.” Tony groaned, face pale with the pain and blood loss, “Like it’s nothing!”

There was the sound of fighting from down below, and subsequently, the sound of Clint yelping. When everything fell silent, only thing could be heard.

“STEVE! STEVE! COME AND FACE ME STEVE!”

Bucky.

As Steve moved to get up, he felt Tony grab his hand. “Don’t go down there…. Please.” The omega begged, “Please don’t- Steve, please.”

Steve hesitated for a few moments, before catching Sam’s eyes. The beta just nodded at him, almost as if giving him permission.

“I’ll be just a moment.” 

“Steve… please- “

Steve ignored him, heading out of the room and down the stairs, leering over the side of the bannister as Bucky glared up at him.

“It was your fault I hurt him.” Bucky snarled as Steve made his way down the stairs, “You forced my hand!”

“You just couldn’t stand to live in a world where I had everything, and you had nothing.”

Bucky stared at him for a few moments, before practically deflating. “I never wanted this to happen… ever. You have to believe me about that.”

Silence.

“Steve… I never wanted any of this- “

“- Your name is at the centre of all of this.” Steve hissed, “Along with Pierce’s and Rumlow’s! You’ll never escape prosecution, not matter how much you ‘never wanted it to happen’. You’re looking at over twenty years in prison.”

“… I know.”

“Your life as you know it will be over, just like mine was when you watched them drag me away.”

This time, it was Bucky’s turn to remain silent.

“Why Bucky?” Steve sighed, “I just want to know why?”

“It- it all goes back to the beginning really.” Bucky rubbed a hand over his face, “You know what my dad was like, and Pierce- Pierce was there for me! He was like the father I never had! You never understood, your mom filled the roll of dad, mum, older sister, everything!”

“I heard about his death… tell me you didn’t have anything to do with that either Bucky.”

Bucky sighed, “Rumlow owed me a favour…. I figured it was the least he could do.”

“Bucky- “

“- That was when I knew I had to leave HYDRA.” Bucky continued, like Steve hadn’t spoken, “I hated it so much, it was like I was suffocating, drowning in my own shame. I felt so guilty and responsible for everything that happened, to you and Tony and everyone…. But I didn’t want to stand against HYDRA, I just couldn’t!”

Bucky couldn’t seem to look Steve in the eyes, sounding remorseful as he stared at the ground, “I allowed myself to continue on as a helpless pawn in their schemes. Pierce forced me into submission again and again and again. I just sat back and took it all.” He then lifted his head, unshed tears in his eye, “I don’t want to do this anymore. I feel like a different person, like someone else takes over and… ruins everything for me!”

“I can’t justify what happened to you Stevie… I can’t stand here and say that I was right to go along with your framing. I can shout and scream about being forced into it, but I doubt you’ll listen, and why would you. I stole from you and robbed you of your life… from having the happy family you always wanted!” 

The tears started to fall, and all words failed Steve. He didn’t know what to say, watching on as Bucky’s shoulders started to shake, ugly tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Shit, you went through so much!” Bucky snarled, “How did you not kill me when you saw me that first time? I would have!”

“Bucky, I- “

“All my earliest memories have you in them.” Bucky swiped his arm over his eyes, “Your cheeky smile when you were caught fighting again, that contagious laugh of yours. Even though you were a fireball, you were sweet and considerate and always there for me… you were my best friend.”

Steve felt frozen, like someone had shoved an ice-pick into his heart and was slowly twisting it around.

“Do you remember the first time we got drunk?” Bucky continued, “When you picked a fight with that Alpha who was harassing the omega… that’s when I knew what kind of Alpha you’d be. The way you went charging over to the Alpha, demanding that he left the omega alone… you got your ass handed to you, but the omega was thankful.”

Steve remembered that day, he also remembered what Bucky said that day.

//” If the omega didn’t want that kind of attention, then they shouldn’t be dressed like that.” \\\

It took all his efforts not to slyly mention that to Bucky.

“What else did we used to do back then?” Bucky pondered, a thoughtful smile on his lips, “Didn’t we go skinny dipping… literally in your case?”

Steve couldn’t help but grin at the memory, not a forced or fake one, but a heart-warming one of old.

“I remember when it was just you and me.” Bucky muttered faintly, “I- I miss that. I miss how close we were, the bond we had and I- 

Bucky’s voice trailed off as he stared at Steve.

“Steve…” He then breathed out heavily, “… I don’t know what else to say. I know we’re not children anymore, and I know things will never be the same between us but- STEVE, LOOK OUT!”

BANG

Steve frowned as Bucky tackled him to the ground, the BANG of the gunshot ringing out through the hall as there was a cry of surprise from upstairs.

And Bucky was still on top of him… and there was something warm soaking into his clothes.

Rolling the other Alpha off him, he frowned at the sight of the bleeding wound that was in Bucky’s shoulders. Glancing around, he tried to spot where the gunshot had come from, but the only sign of any other life was the commotion upstairs.

“I feel bad about shooting Tony now.” Bucky winced, “Like, really, really bad.”

“Bucky!”

“Fuck!” Bucky cursed, “I know you probably don’t want me anywhere near him again, but I really need to say sorry to Tony!” Pained tears tingled at his eyes as he whispered “I’m sorry” over and over again, face creasing in remorse.

Steve wanted to tell him that it would all be okay, even as Bucky continued to mutter his apologies. “Don’t speak.” He scolded his friend, pressing his hand against the wound, “You’ll be fine. SAM!”

Sam was at the top of the stairs in less than a minute, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “I’ve called an ambulance for Tony and- “He frowned at the sight of Bucky on the ground, “- You brought a gun?”

“It wasn’t me! Call another ambulance… and the police.”

Bucky might have been shot, but that wasn’t going to get him out of trouble.

………………………………………….……………………………………………….

He had long cleaned his hands, but Steve swore he could still smell the blood on his hands.

Tony and Bucky were in surgery now, and whilst he hadn’t travelled with Bucky (Peter needed him after all), Sam had told him everything the man had muttered under the influence of the drugs.

How he loved Tony.

How the omega should have given him a chance.

How he wished he could turn back time.

How sorry he was for what Steve went through.

And then he would talk about how much he hated Steve.

It was like there were two different Bucky’s in the same body.

“Tony’s awake.” 

Steve flinched at the sudden appearance of Sam, checking that Peter was still asleep before turning his attention to his friend, who was giving him a sympathetic smile.

“He’s still a little groggy but he’ll be fine.”

“… And Bucky?”

Sam sighed, “Same situation, except for being handcuffed to the bed. Once he’s stable enough to move, they’ll take him to the police station. Someone’s already arranged for a court psychologist to come and evaluate him.”

“… How did I not see that something was wrong?”

“Steve- “

“- He was my best friend.” Steve sighed, “How did I not see how much he was suffering?”

Sam had no answer for that, taking a seat next to Steve and placing a hand on his shoulder, in silent comradery.

……………………………………………………………………….

“You’re here.” Tony whispered weakly, as Steve stepped into the room, Peter still asleep in his arms, “Isn’t he a little heavy?”

Steve shook his head silently, adjusting his grip on his son before taking a seat next to Tony’s bed, gently placing Peter next to Tony.

“Bucky…” Tony sighed, “… Is he- “ 

“- No.”

Tony frowned, “You didn’t even let me finish. I was going to ask if he was dead.”

“And my answer remains the same. No.”

“… Why not?”

Steve shuffled on the chair anxiously, breaking eye contact with Tony to stare at his own hands.

“Steve… please talk to me.” Trying not to wake Peter, Tony reached out to grab Steve’s hand, “Steve- “

“- He’s sick.” Steve pushed himself to his feet, pulling away from Tony’s grasping hand, “I thought I knew what I wanted to do. I thought I had everything planned out in advance…. And sometimes I think about what live would have been like if none of this happened.”

Tony stared at him; confusion written all over his face.

“I’d finish art school, finally open up that art gallery like I always wanted, and you’d pretend like you didn’t know where all the money was coming from. Anonymous donation my ass.” Steve couldn’t help but smile at the imagery, “We’d travel the world, before you settled down as the Stark CEO…. We’d have more children, because we both know how much you love children.”

“Don’t spread that about.”

“I’m thinking maybe three kids…. Two boys and a girl. We’d raise them in a loving home, with no pressures on them. They wouldn’t be forced to do anything they didn’t want to do, not like with your Father.” Steve sighed, “They wouldn’t have to take part in math competitions or take etiquette lessons or spend months at a fancy private school. They’d be free.”

“Three kids?” Tony smirked, “I want a football’s team worth. We have the money for it.”

“We would be happy… we’d be in love.” Steve’s eyes glistened with fresh, sorrowful tears, “You and me, growing old together, living out our lives, carefree.”

Tony struggled to keep himself calm as well, a chocked sob breaking free, hand flying to his mouth.

“I wish…” Steve sighed, “… I wish with all my heart that we could have had a life like that. But we never got that chance and… I don’t think we can ever go back.” He glanced over at Tony, “I’m sorry.”

“Steve, please- “

“- I’ll always love you Tony…. But I’m not right for you anymore.” Steve shrugged, “I came back, and two of the people I care for most in this world have been shot.”

He was a little too close to the bed, as Tony managed to reach out and grab his arm, wincing slightly in pain, before tugging Steve towards him. “Please…” His grip never wavered, “… Don’t leave us.”

Steve couldn’t bring himself to fight.

“Stay with us! We can still have that happy life, we still can!”

“No, Tony… we can’t.” Bending over, Steve cupped Tony’ face, tenderly pressing their lip together for the last time, before quickly pulling away, brushing his hand through Peter’s hair and heading to the door.

“Goodbye Tony.”

He then walked.

Out of the room.

Out of the hospital.

Out of Tony’s life.

Walking away, Steve could hear Tony still calling out for him, prompting him to hurry up.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

“Tony called me.”

Steve ignored Sam, continuing to pack.

“Steve…. After everything you’ve been through, after everything Tony has been through, why would you leave now?”

“HYDRA is still out there, they’re the ones who shot Bucky. If I stick around, there’s every chance that they’ll go after Tony and Peter, and this time, they might not be so lucky.”

He couldn’t bear to even think about his son’s face paling with the blood-loss.

Tony’s eyes shutting forever.

“You, Clint and Natasha should stay here.” Steve continued, “And don’t know quite where to start, but- “

“- You can’t leave now!” Sam immediately protested, “Barnes’s is going to a specialist hospital, and yeah, maybe there’s still someone out there, but Tony and Peter will be safer with you there beside them. Let Clint and Nat do the leg-work, you know they’re not built to just be servants.”

Clint and Nat were both nodding in agreement.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s safer. There is still a threat out there, and every moment that I’m not out there looking for it, is another moment that could lead to Tony being killed.”

“What is wrong with you?!” Sam threw his hands up in the air in exasperation, “You have the chance to live your life, live the life you’ve always wanted and dreamed of! But no! You want to go off and get yourself killed! Do you have a death wish or something?!”

“Maybe I do!” Steve roared, unexpectedly lashing out, “And if I want to die, then let me!”

He tried to rush out of the door, only to hear Sam sigh in exasperation, “Grab him.” The beta ordered Clint and Nat, giving Steve only a split second to react, before electricity coursed through his veins and everything went black.

Damn Natasha.

………………………………………………………………………

“I know you’re angry.”

Steve scowled at Sam, as he slowly came to.

“I know that you’re stressed about this, I know that it’s not easy, but we can’t watch as you throw away your life like this.”

“… I don’t care anymore Sam. If I live, so be it, if I die, so be it.”

“That isn’t how it should be Steve. Your life is worth more than that.” Sam sighed, “Tony’s been released from hospital by the way. Him and Peter came looking for you, but I really didn’t think you wanted them to see you like this. As you’re not going to give up on getting your full revenge, and protecting Tony… I had Clint and Nat do some snooping.”

Silence.

“Steve… I think we found the missing HYDRA agent.”

Instantly, Steve’s head snapped over to Steve, a glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “Tell me everything.”

……………………………………………………………

Steve felt slightly on edge as he headed to the building that Clint and Nat had indicated was the chosen hideout.

No security.

The door was partially open.

Clearly a trap.

“Steven Grant Rogers.” Came a voice from the shadows, “What a pleasure.”

Steve glanced around, spotting movement to his right, shifting his body in that direction as a man stepped out.

Johann Schmidt.

The man Erskine had spoken about all those years ago.

The man who probably had the kind Doctor sent there in the first place.

“We have a lot to discuss.” The man sneered at him, waving at some wooden boxes, “Please, have a seat.”

“You’re an impressive man Steven. Pierce was far too compliant, believing that you would just accept your fate.”

“Actually, I think he was hoping I would die.” Steve smirked, “He has your old friend Erskine to thank for my being here.”

There! 

A slight tensing of the face at the name.

“Erskine.” Schmidt hissed, “I should have known he was behind this miraculous transformation. I knew he was lying about that serum of his.”

“So, you framed him.” Steve tried his best to remain calm, “Just like you framed me.”

“You were the perfect person to pin everything on. And James was so eager to hand you over for a chance at that omega of yours.”

“I was a kid!” Steve snapped, “I’d barely turned eighteen!” 

“And you didn’t choose the right friends.” Schmidt shrugged, “I had nothing against you. It was just business.”

“Business! You ruined my entire life!”

Schmidt raised an eyebrow, “And yet here you are. The peak of human fitness, with a gorgeous omega and child waiting for you at home. Life must be so hard.”

In one swift movement, Steve had a gun pressed up against Schmidt’s head. “Enough.” He snarled, “Your voice is revolting.”

“Will Tony miss you I wonder… after all, you’ve nothing but push him away since you got back.”

“Shut up!” Steve backhanded the man with the butt of the gun, the CRACK echoing through the room.

Schmidt just chuckled in reaction, fresh blood leaking from his wounded temple, ripping down his face.

“Shut up!”

He shot the man through the knee, watching as Schmidt fell to the ground, shouting in pain.

And then he noticed the small gun Schmidt had in an ankle holster. He only just managed to dive to the side as the bullet skimmed his upper arm, forcing a pained yelp out of him, as he threw his circular shield at the man, instantly shattering the hand that was holding the gun.

As Schmidt cursed in pain again, Steve moved to pin him down, striking him in the face again and again and again. Schmidt attempted to spit blood in his face and disorientate him, only for it to have no effect, as Steve hit him again.

“Some Alpha!” Schmidt sneered, “Couldn’t even protect your omega from your best friend!”

Steve’s hands moved from the man’s face to his throat, squeezing it as hard as he could. “Go to hell, you bastard!”

For several minutes, the pair struggled to gain the upper hand, with Steve wincing at just how much effort he was putting into this fight.

It was like Schmidt was as strong as he was.

Knowing that he needed to gain the upper hand, he dug this thumb into the bullet wound from earlier, causing Schmidt to scream in pain.

Spotting the dropped gun, Steve took advantage of Schmidt’s pain and dived towards it, managing to point it at the other man before he could fully recover. Not even bothering to aim it properly, he pulled the trigger, just before Schmidt could grab him again. 

The look of surprise on the man’s face as the bullet entered his head was worth it all.

For a moment, Steve was completely motionless, still holding the gun up. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart and panicked breathing. Once he was calm enough, he slowly got to his feet, wobbling slightly with the adrenaline.

It was over. It was finally over.

………………………………………………………………………….…………

“Doesn’t Dad love us?”

Tony frowned, turning to his son, who was curled up into a little ball. “What?”

“Well…” Peter shrugged, “… He went off to fight some more instead of staying with you. Ned’s Dad stayed with his Mum the whole time she was in hospital.”

“Kid… It’s a little bit more complicated than that.” Weakly, Tony pushed himself into a seated position. His hair was a mess, and his shoulder still hurt like a bitch.

“He left us though!” 

“Yes… I know.” Tony sighed, “But that doesn’t mean he won’t ever come back.”

Peter was quiet for a moment, before nervously speaking up again, “How did- How did you and Dad even meet?”

“Simply? He got into a fight with an ex that was bothering me, and I couldn’t resist.” Tony shrugged, “It was like we were drawn to each other. I didn’t care that he wasn’t the Alpha most omegas dream of; he was perfect for me…. Even if he does keep breaking my heart.”

The last part was muttered under his breath, clearly not intended for Peter to hear.

But he did.

“Then… why do you keep going back to him?” Peter asked, tears forming behind his own eyes, “Why do you keep letting him break your heart?!”

“I don’t know how to answer that!” Tony groaned, covering his face with his hands, trying to keep his own tears at bay.

Peter hated seeing his Dad crying like that, the sound and sight often tugging at his heart strings. “Dad…” He whispered, crawling over, “…please don’t cry.”

“I just- I just want him to be happy.” Tony whispered, pulling his hands away from his face, “And if getting revenge is what he needs to be happy… then screw him!” He ran his hand through his hair, trying to neaten it out, “I love Steve, I always have, and I probably always will…. But I can’t help but feel it was all easier when I thought he was dead.”

He paused, wiping at his eyes, “Maybe I should just… let him go. I have you after all. Who needs Alphas, right?”

Peter shook his head, not sure what to say to that sudden announcement. “Do-Do you hate him?”

“… Never. I just hate the things that he does.”

Before Peter could reply, the door to the room slammed open and Sam burst into the room, “Steve’s back.”

………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It took some time, but eventually, Tony forgave Steve.

Bucky was sent to the best mental facility in the country, and Tony hated to admit it… but he did miss the other Alpha from time to time.

He was sure Steve did too, but he never mentioned it.

The pair certainly had their ups and downs over the years.

There were the days where Steve completely closed himself off from Tony, brooding in another room of the home. There were nights where Steve woke up screaming because of yet another nightmare…. On the really bad nights, Steve would make his way onto the landing pad and stare down at the city below.

On those days, Tony had to resist the urge to visit Bucky and give him a piece of his mind, biting his tongue when he just wanted to scream out and break anything in his path. 

Instead, he focused on simply being there…. No matter how much it hurt to see Steve suffering like this.

He sat with Steve through the long periods of silence, whispering soft declarations of love in his ear to try and fend off the nightmares.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He asked one night, as Steve sat on the edge of the bed, face buried in his hands, “Steve?”

When Steve still didn’t answer, Tony leaned over to kiss him on the fresh bonding mark.

“Look at me… please?”

Steve didn’t react, too far into his own thoughts.

Reaching out, Tony took Steve’s hand into his own, “I love you Stevie.” He tried to reach Steve, wherever his mind was stranded, “I love you.”

Steve broke at the sound of those soft words, tears now streaming down his cheeks as he started to shake.

“I’m here.” Tony whispered, pulling Steve closer, holding him tightly, “I’m here.”

Steve went easily into his arms, clearly wanting to be held and comforted.

“I’m here.”

…………………………………………………………..

Things did get better.

The small family travelled the world, needing to get away from the hellish memories. It was what Steve and Tony always planned to do when they were young, and they might not be in their twenties anymore, their lives may not have turned out the way that they always planned, but they could still look to the future with hope.

They went from continent to continent, never stopping in one place for over three years. The further they went, the closer they grew, learning how to be a family and falling in love all over again.

The world was their oyster.

Steve taught Tony and Peter how to ride a motorbike, speeding through the valleys of Europe.

They took the tourist tours, ate in small cafes and enjoyed the hustle and bustle of various cities.

They sailed across blue seas, watching the sun rise and set, dipping into the water and experiencing the wonders of ocean life.

They all fell asleep under the stars, Steve and Tony wrapped in each other’s arms.

They participated in various festivals, dancing through the streets in a maze of colours and light.

They skated over icy lakes, leaning on each other for support.

They visited museums and theatres, went wine tasting in expensive vineyards.

And then, as the three years was coming to an end, Tony and Steve officially bonded and got married, sharing Tony’s next heat together, for the first time in over a decade. They promised forever as if it wasn’t already promised before, vowing to never part again.

Morgan shouldn’t have been a surprise.

……………………………………………………………………………………..

Tony stared up at the large doors of the mental facility, taking comfort in Steve’s presence.

“They say he’s doing better now.” The Alpha whispered, “Take your time, and talk to him.”

Tony nodded slowly, handing Morgan over to Steve, gently smoothing his hand over the soft hair on top of her head. “Wait for me?”

“Forever.”

As he walked up the steps, he continuously glanced back at his family, until the large doors slammed shut. From there, he was led into the visitors’ room, much like the ones seen in films. Taking a seat, Tony took a deep breath, as Bucky was led into the room.

They at each other through the glass, picking up the phones in unison.

“… Hello James.” Tony was the first to break the uncomfortable silence, frowning when Bucky just stared at him, “I was going to bring something, but the higher ups said it wasn’t good for you. They didn’t know what you would do with any of the gifts.”

When Bucky continued to remain silent, Tony sighed, scuffing his feet across the stone floor. How had he already managed to run out of things to say?

“Steve, Peter and I are moving back home.” Tony started up a new topic, “It feels good to be home again, I’ve really missed it. Not that I don’t like Europe but… I think it’s time for me to settle down again.”

Silence.

“I forgot how much I missed proper Italian food though.” Tony continued, “It’s just… not quite right over here.”

Nothing.

“Well, um…. There is a reason for me being here, alright?” Tony sighed, “I’m not just here to tell you stupid stories or- I’ll- I’ll get to it eventually.” He took a deep breath, “I’m sorry that I’ve avoided coming to see you for three years, but getting held captive, shot and threatened… altered my view on you.”

He glanced over at the window, wincing at how dreary the sky looked. Hopefully Steve had the good sense to seek out shelter with Morgan and Peter before it really started to rain.

“I miss the friendship we all used to have.” Tony finally admitted, “I really do. Sometimes Steve and I will start one of the inside jokes that we used to have, expecting you to finish it, because we’ve both forgotten you’re not there anymore.” He sighed, “Steve’s finally fully forgiven you, and honestly… I expected it to take a lot longer.”

“…. I’m sorry.”

Tony’s eyes widened, hearing Bucky’s voice for the first time since the hostage situation, watching as Bucky shook his head.

“I’m so, so sorry.”

Tony sucked in a desperate breath, “I forgive you.” He forced out, “I forgive you. I forgive you for everything you did and everything you didn’t mean to do. I just… want to put it all behind me and remember the good times we had together.”

Bucky seemed to have resorted back to silence.

“I-I should probably go; Steve is waiting for me but… it was good to talk to you again. I promise I’ll visit again.” He got to his feet, and turned glancing back at Bucky, “Goodbye… Bucky.”

………………………………………………………………………………………….

“Hold still.” Tony chuckled, trying to straighten out, “Did Sam use to do all the work for you when the ‘Count’ had to make an appearance? Because you are atrocious at this.”

“We spent three years in t-shirts and jumpers, my fingers have forgotten!”

Tony smiled at his mate fondly, rolling his eyes, “You’re lucky I love you.”

The good days were becoming more and more frequent now, the bad days few and far between. The horrors of the past were but a distant notion and now they had the future to look forwards to.

“I think this is it.” Steve whispered, gently rubbing his thumbs over Tony’s wrists.

“What’s it?”

“… What I always wanted… what I thought I would never have.” Steve looked so unsure, “What most people probably spend their whole lives chasing after.

“Stevie!” Tony whined playfully, “You’re not answering the question!”

“Happiness… we have happiness.” Steve finally answered conclusively, a soft smile appearing on his face.

Tony’s eyes warmed even more, thought turning to Peter and Morgan as he caressed Steve’s cheek, “You’re happy?” When Steve nodded, Tony’s smile widened, “I love you.”

“I know.” Steve kissed Tony on the cheek, “And I love you, and our son and our daughter with everything I have in my heart. I love our family.”

They stared into each other’s eyes, as Steve delicately traced his fingertips along Tony’s temple and down his face, “Are you… happy?”

“More than anything.”

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [CapBB collab](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21190289) by [Hayluhalo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hayluhalo/pseuds/Hayluhalo)


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